Lando Norris (l.) and Max Verstappen (r.) are considered close friends. © APA/afp / BEN STANSALL

After crash: Norris on cozy course with Verstappen

The collision between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris at the Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix is ​​still fresh in everyone's mind. But after a few days, Norris suddenly appeared extremely conciliatory.

July 04, 2024

From: apa

"Max doesn't want to have an accident, he doesn't want to ruin his own race," the Briton explained on Thursday. "Max has a different style of driving than many others. That's why he's the champion." Verstappen has so far refused to take the blame for the Spielberg fiasco.

For Red Bull Racing, the conclusion of a grueling three-pack of Grand Prix races is the second home race in a week, as the Austrian-licensed racing team is based in Milton Keynes, a half-hour drive from the Silverstone Circuit. In Austria, Verstappen missed what seemed to be a sure victory in the closing stages after a series of problems - including a botched pit stop due to a jammed wheel nut.

However, the decisive factor for the fall to fifth place was the collision with the oncoming McLaren of Norris on lap 64. The two had previously fought a wheel-to-wheel duel over several laps. When Norris tried to pass Verstappen on the outside in turn 3, the jury felt that the Dutchman forced his challenger off the track while braking. There was contact, both cars suffered punctures, but only Norris retired. Despite a ten-second penalty, Verstappen finished in the points and extended his lead in the World Championship to 81 points.

Lando Norris and Max Verstappen (front) had a thrilling duel in Spielberg. © APA / ERWIN SCHERIAU

Immediately after his retirement, Norris expressed his bitter disappointment and announced that he wanted to question his friendship with Verstappen. He is waiting for an explanation from the 26-year-old, who has long been known as an aggressive driver. In his racing team's preview, Verstappen said: "There were some mistakes in the race that really cost us something, but we also have to look at the good moments we had during the weekend, including the sprint win and the two pole positions."

“Not everything I said was correct” Lando Norris

In conversation with the with the BBC Norris now explained that "not everything I said was as correct as it should be." He added that the two had already exchanged text messages - more will follow. "We will of course have a conversation because I think that's the right thing to do. But other than that, what we talk about and how things are going will remain between us." He expects that the good relationship will not suffer. "To be honest, I don't think he has to apologize either."

The Red Bull officials are pleading for the incident to be treated as a normal occurrence in a race. "It was pathetic how Norris acted on the radio. But things like that happen, and I would write it off as a racing accident, although Norris was more likely to have overstepped the mark," Helmut Marko told the daily newspaper AustriaMcLaren team boss Andrea Stella took a contrary view: "The entire world population knows who is responsible for this - except for one group of people," he explained, referring to Verstappen and his team.