McLaren's Lando Norris believes Alexander Albon's late move at the hairpin during the Japanese Grand Prix was "fair play".
Norris was forced wide as Albon dived down the inside of his fellow rookie, forcing Norris to take to the run-off area.
Although Norris was unaware that there was contact between them, he insisted there were no hard feelings and explained that fading brakes – caused by debris from Charles Leclerc's damage front-wing – meant he was unable to defend hard.
"In my eyes there was no contact," Norris said after the race. "He [Albon] made a decent move, must have been from quite a long way back.
"My brakes were overheating completely because of the debris [from Leclerc], which meant that I locked up the front right completely.
"He sent it from a long way back. Fair play to him anyway," he said, adding that in his eyes it didn't deserve a penalty: "I guess that's racing. He didn't get a penalty, did he? Good.
"He kind of forced me off, but I think that's racing. That's how it should be. He sent it down the inside, he made a move, fair play to the guy."
Norris finished outside the points in P13, but at the time had been battling Albon over sixth, but was forced to make an additional stop to clear his brake ducts of the debris.
McLaren team-mate Carlos Sainz took the team's joint best finish of the season in fifth, a result the Spaniard has enjoyed twice already this year in Germany and Hungary.
