Pole-sitter Verstappen appeared to be in control of the race until his final pit stop on lap 51, when his usually slick Red Bull Racing mechanics were slow, taking 6.5 seconds to change his rear-left tyre.
He had entered the lane just 7.5 seconds ahead of Norris, who followed him in for his final tyre change. It wiped the buffer between them out to practically nothing with 20 laps to go.
Things got worse for Verstappen too. Having complained of worsening grip through the race, he was forced to spar for the lead on used mediums, whereas Norris had the benefit of a brand-new set with which to try to exact punishment for the team’s pit stop error.
Norris stalked his prey immediately, and on lap 55 he struck with an attempted move down the inside of turn 3, the long braking zone at the top of the hill.
Verstappen darted to the right under brakes, blocking the Briton’s path at the final moment, earning a rebuke from the McLaren driver for moving under braking, an outlawed and dangerous racing tactic.
Neither driver was deterred, however, and Verstappen jinked under brakes again on lap 59. Norris, too late on the brakes and spooked by the move, sailed wide off the track and re-emerged with the lead, though he handed it back on the run down to turn 4.
Norris lined up again on lap 63, though this time took a far narrower line, apparently put on edge by Verstappen’s questionable defences. It was a classic block pass, preventing Verstappen from turning in and ushering the Red Bull Racing car off the road.
The Dutchman kept his foot in to hold position but unlike Norris refused to yield.
“He has to give the position back, I was ahead at the apex,” Norris radioed for the benefit of race control as much as for his team.
Verstappen didn’t agree. “He forced me off,” he argued. “He’s just dive-bombing. That’s not how you overtake.”
Tensions were boiling by the time they came back around on lap 64.
Norris altered his tactics again, dummying Verstappen to the inside line before reverting to the racing line on the outside. The Red Bull Racing driver was caught by surprise as the McLaren pulled up alongside his left, a position that was sure to get him into the lead as they powered out of the turn.
Verstappen responded by squeezing the Briton against the track boundary - too much in fact. They made contact, and both picked up punctures.
Norris limped back to pit lane, but his car was too severely damaged by his disintegrating tyre to continue. Verstappen was able to continue with fresh rubber to finish fifth.
The stewards slapped the Dutchman with a 10-second penalty for causing the crash, though it did nothing to change his finishing position.
“I looked forward to just a fair battle - a strong, fair battle - but I wouldn’t say that’s what it was in the end,” Norris fumed to British TV.
“If he says he did nothing wrong, then I’d lose a lot of respect for him. If he admits to being a bit stupid and running into me and just being a bit reckless in a way, then I’d have a small amount of respect for him.”
Verstappen showed no contrition after the race, denying he broke any rules.
“Everyone can have their own opinion, but I’m the one driving, so I think I’m best in control,” he told British TV. “From the outside it’s easy to judge and comment, but whatever, it’s what happens.”
It was all music to the ears of George Russell, who had been running a solid third and suddenly stood to win just the second race of his career.
The final seven laps of the race were fraught, with Oscar Piastri closing in rapidly in the second McLaren, but a brief virtual safety car killed the Australian’s momentum, allowing Russell to seal a fortunate but heartening win for the German marque as it returns to competitiveness.
“It feels really great, to be honest,” he said. “These last three races as a team, we’ve really turned it up.
“I feel that Montreal was probably a victory that we missed out on and we ended up finishing P3. Today was a deserving P3 and we got the victory, so it’s funny how this sport turns around.
“Credit to all the team for all the hard work they’ve done. Such huge progress since the start of the year.”
Piastri found second place bittersweet. He’d committed an excellent comeback drive, overcoming Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz to be running fourth before the smash, but he would’ve started the race third had it not been for a marginal track limits call in qualifying that emoted him seventh on the grid, which surely would have seen him claim his maiden grand prix victory.
“There’s a lot of what-ifs and maybes obviously starting from yesterday,” he said. “It’s only my fourth podium in F1, but so close to a win. It hurts a little bit.
“Really good points - I think the second half of the race we were coming on pretty strong - and I’m happy with another podium; just when it’s that close, you can’t help but hurt a little bit.”
Sainz cruised into third after the crash, having seen off Hamilton in an early skirmish. The Spaniard said it was most Ferrari could have hoped for as it struggled for midseason form.
“I think there was not much more in it this weekend,” he said. “Today, we set our targets in trying to beat the Mercedes. We managed to beat one, even if one of them got ahead.
“We tried everything we could, but we know we’ve been struggling the last few races, and at the moment Mercedes are a little bit quicker than us.”
Hamilton finished fourth ahead of Verstappen and the sensational Nico Hulkenberg in sixth, who scored big points for Haas.
Sergio Pérez was a damaged seventh ahead of Kevin Magnussen, Daniel Ricciardo - the Australian continuing his June form upswing - and Pierre Gasly as the final points scorers.