Norris could ‘lose a lot of respect’ for Verstappen if he says ‘he did nothing wrong’

Max Verstappen and Lando Norris came to blows in the late stages of the Austrian Grand Prix, which resulted in a DNF for Norris and a penalty for Verstappen, but the two have different takes on the incident. 

Max Verstappen secured pole position for the Austrian Grand Prix. He kept the lead when the lights went out with Lando Norris holding onto P2. However, a slow pit stop on Lap 50 for Red Bull brought Norris back into contention for the race lead.

But, the two drivers, who are known to be good friends off the track, share different perspectives on the incident that took place between the two. The result of the incident was that Norris was forced to retire from the race after having a puncture, which caused damage to the car. Verstappen also suffered a puncture, but he managed to change tyres in the pits and get back out on track.

Verstappen was deemed at fault for the collision between the two drivers and received a 10-second penalty. However, due to Nico Hulkenberg finishing more than 10 seconds behind in fifth, the Dutchman was able to keep P4 and also earned the point for fastest lap.

Following the race, the two drivers shared their perspectives on the incident as well as several pundits and the two team bosses.

‘He ruined his own race as much as he ruined mine’

Speaking to Sky Sports F1 after the race, Norris admitted that he was “disappointed” and that he felt Verstappen was at fault for the collision. He said:

“I don’t know what to say. Disappointed. Nothing more than that, honestly. It was a good race, 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. Tough one to take. It was a mistake-free race from my side, I feel like I did a good job, but got taken out of the race, so nothing more than that.

“I mean as a rule, you’re not allowed to move, you’re not allowed to react to the driver and that’s what he did three times out of three. Two times I managed to avoid it, not going to run into him, not lock up and run into him, and the third time he just ran into me. I’m just trying to drive my race, he was clearly a lot slower at the end.

“He ruined his own race as much as he ruined mine, but nothing more I can do. I did my best and it wasn’t good enough. Got ruined through not my own fault.

Norris could ‘lose’ respect for Verstappen

Norris continued talking about what he can do going forward and what would happen if Verstappen doesn’t apologise. The McLaren said: “I can’t do so much. There are rules and if rules aren’t followed, there’s nothing I can do about that. I just have to do my job which is go out and drive and drive fast and do what I was doing today, which was easily good enough for the win.

“But from my side, just carry on doing what I’m doing. I’m doing a good job, I’m happy with my efforts, my improvements from yesterday to today. Onto Silverstone. I can’t do anything more than what I’ve done so I’m happy. I’m happy with the team and everything we’re doing but got let down today.

“I don’t know it depends what he says. If he said he did nothing wrong, then I’ll lose a lot of respect for that. If he admits to being a bit stupid and running into me and being a bit reckless in a way, then I’ll have a small amount of respect for him but it’s still a tough one to take when we’re fighting for the win. I’m trying to be fair from my side and he just wasn’t. I don’t know, that’s all I’m thinking about, I don’t care, just gutted for the team.”

It's a 10 SECOND PENALTY for Max Verstappen for causing a collision with Lando Norris! ⏱⚠ pic.twitter.com/zf0eHYl5mY

— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) June 30, 2024

‘It’s just unfortunate’

Verstappen laid some blame at Norris’ feet in terms of his attempts at overtaking. However, the Dutchman said that he needs to take another look at what actually happened. Speaking to Sky Sports F1 after the race, Verstappen commented saying:

“I mean, of course, from the outside it’s hard to see when I brake. I know of course in the past that has always been a bit of a complaint but now I always move my wheel before I brake and then of course you brake in a straight line trajectory or whatever. That’s always easy to say from the outside that I was moving under braking but I think the guy in the car knows best what he’s doing.

“Everyone can have their own opinion, but I’m the one driving and the best in control, let’s say it like that. Everyone can have their own opinion, of course, from the outside like I said, it’s easy to judge and comment. But whatever, it’s what happens.

“I mean I felt like sometimes he divebombs so late on the brakes that one time I went straight and one time I had to go round the sausage… otherwise we would have touched as well. The thing is also just the shape of the corner, which provides these kinds of issues sometimes. I’ve had it also the other way round. It is what it is, but of course, it’s never nice to come together.

“I need to look back at why or how we touched and of course we’ll talk about it. It’s just unfortunate that it happened.”

In the past, Verstappen has come to blows with a few drivers, most notable Lewis Hamilton. In his post-race interview with Ted Kravitz, McLaren’s Team Principal Andrea Stella touched on this.

Incidents ‘were not addressed properly in the past’

Stella made it clear that he felt Verstappen and Red Bull did not need to do what they did today in the Austrian Grand Prix. The Team Principal highlighted that he felt consistency is needed when speaking to Kravitz, saying:

“I see that the entire population in the world would know who is responsible except for a group of people. But the problem behind it is if you don’t address these things honestly they will come back.

“They have come back today because they were not addressed properly in the past and there were some fights with Lewis that needed to be punished in a harsher way. Like this you learn how to race in a certain way that can be considered fair and square.”

Stella also said this was not a one-time issue. He continued saying:

“There are many episodes. The fact is that we have so much respect for Red Bull, so much respect for Max, they don’t need to do this. It’s a way to almost compromise your reputation, why would you do that?

“I think the stewards found that Max was fully at blame in this episode so it’s not about racing in a driver’s way, it’s about racing within the regulations and the regulations must be enforced in a way that is effective because when a car is out of the race as a consequence of this accident, the punishment needs to be proportionate to the outcome.”

The next race is the British Grand Prix, Norris’ home race. Verstappen extended his championship lead but next weekend could see another close battle with McLaren looking to be Red Bull’s closest competitors.

Headline image: X @F1