McRae claimed that at one stage Norris told him he ‘was not the boss’, and that he had allegedly been sent a message beforehand, specifically asking him not to ask questions about Norris’ friendship and rivalry with Max Verstappen and George Russell, or about the new 2026 regulations.
When McRae did bring up these topics, Norris’ management company apparently stepped in and said ‘we’re done with time’.
McRae also alleged that the management team gave a generic quote to be used in a line about Verstappen on behalf of Norris: “He’s an amazing guy, Max is the best person ever and we love him. Quote.”
Now, former F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya has defended Norris and his management following the exchange, and claimed the interview was designed to catch the champion out.
Speaking on the AS Columbia podcast, Montoya said: “Of course, but Lando handled it very well and pretended he was going to answer, even though he knew he wasn’t allowed to and that they would stop him.
“But the journalist did indeed handle it poorly.”
“If you are told: we have an exclusive interview with Lando, but you are not allowed to ask this, and you do it anyway, then I will never speak to you again. Do you know what happens?
“Journalists never ask those questions with good intentions, there is never a good purpose behind it, they try to trip the person up or get them to say something wrong to use it as a headline, and they attack someone with those questions.”
