Several of Max Verstappen’s rivals said his defensive moves against Lando Norris in the Austrian Grand Prix were no more than “hard racing” after McLaren complained about his actions.
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella believes the stewards were too lenient on Verstappen, whom Norris accused of repeatedly moving under braking during their fight, and keeping his position by going off the track at one point.However, Alexander Albon, a former team mate of Verstappen’s said “the reality of it was just pure racing, hard racing” between the two drivers.
“It’s aggressive racing but I think it’s blown out of proportion, in my opinion,” said the Williams driver.”
Norris came close to passing Verstappen on several occasions but repeatedly accused his rival of making illegal defensive moves. After he appeared to pass the Red Bull on lap 63, Verstappen stayed ahead by leaving the track at turn three.
The pair collided on the next lap as Norris attempted to pass the Red Bull driver one the outside. The stewards blamed Verstappen for the collision and handed him a 10-second time penalty.
“I think it was questionable more the first move where Max moved under the braking the first time. I don’t really think he moved under braking on the one where they made contact. I think that was more just kind of heading more towards a straight line, just going more towards the left.”
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After the race McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said Verstappen had been emboldened to make uncompromising moves on rivals because incidents he was involved in during 2021 were not punished severely enough. But Nico Hulkenberg also came to Verstappen’s defence.
“I think the stewards got involved quite a lot last weekend, but it’s personal opinion, personal views, and like I say for me that was that was just racing.”
He felt the pair were unfortunate to sustain punctures when they made contact. “It was racing, for me,” said Hulkenberg. “There was next to no contact.
“There was the slightest of contact, I don’t think you could have less contact, it’s just obviously quite bad how they hit in that both rims kind of broke from that. But usually you get away with that kind of contact.
“So I felt it was all ‘biffed up’ quite a bit and dramatic. And for me, it was just racing.”
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Other drivers also felt the contact was slight enough that the drivers could have got away with it. Daniel Ricciardo, another of Verstappen’s former team mates, who was involved in a controversial collision with him at Baku in 2018 where both drivers retired, said drivers will always race each other this hard when a victory is at stake.
“I think the moving under braking, I have an understanding of what I should do and shouldn’t do,” he said. “If you look at it, yeah it’s hard, but you’re also fighting for a win so you’re not going to just wave someone by. I think the contact, that can happen probably nine times out of ten with no consequence.
“They’d been going at it back and forth. Maybe the angle was a bit awkward. Obviously Lando ended the race but I think the outcome was bigger than probably what was actually happening on track.
“What I saw, at least, nothing seemed over the top. Was it pushing the edge? Probably. But was anything dangerous or reckless, at least from what I’ve seen. No.”
He believes other drivers would have fought Norris as hard for the lead as Verstappen did. “I don’t even want to spotlight Max. I think when you’re fighting for a win, are you going to fight harder than fighting for 15th place? Honestly, yes, because it’s just how it is.
“So I think it’s to be expected. I’m not saying whether everything was correct and by the book, maybe some things were pushing it.”
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While Norris claimed Verstappen’s moves under braking went unpunished by the stewards, Kevin Magnussen would like to see less strict rules on racing, as he’s experienced in the USA.
“It’s frustrating that it’s always going back and forth with the rules,” he said. “I think maybe they just have to make it more free.
“At the end of the day Max paid, he got a penalty, which I guess was correct by the rules. But at the end of the day he got a natural penalty with his puncture. So it didn’t pay off for him to drive the way he did in that moment.
“I just think there is a natural sort of dynamic to racing. If you let the drivers race free they will race hard. But at the end of the day, you want to be finishing races, you want to be taking care of your car. And that kind of stuff stops the drivers from doing too crazy things. I think it’s better to be trusting each other based on everyone wanting to finish the race for themselves rather than relying on people to stick to the rules or whatever.
“I kind of had a little bit of that in Monaco where I have my car in the space that, by the rules, you shouldn’t lose that space. But I lost that space, and that didn’t pay off for me.”
While Magnussen insisted “I’m not saying we should have no rules at all” he believes a looser approach to regulating racing, as he’s experienced in America, would benefit F1.
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“I’ve raced in IndyCar myself and also in sports cars, and I think in the US they have this approach that they just let the drivers race and it works. It’s not like it’s going crazy over there because you go over there and you just you come back to how I was racing in karting back in the day where there wasn’t really all these specific rules about everything and it just kind of worked out naturally and the racing was great.”
Nonetheless Magnussen conceded that stewards should pay close attention to drivers moving under braking.
“Reacting to someone, I think you have to make your move before the other guy does, otherwise if someone’s slipstreaming you and you move just after he’s moved, that’s dangerous. You can’t do that. And under braking once you hit the brakes to change direction too much is also dangerous.”
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2024 Austrian Grand Prix
- Austrian GP clash will have taught Norris how to race Verstappen – Ricciardo
- Verstappen was “lucky” tyre damage didn’t force him to retire like Norris
- Pirelli introducing new C6 tyre to improve racing on street tracks next year
- Norris admits ‘overreacting’ but queries why Verstappen avoided track limits penalty
- Norris and Verstappen’s Austrian GP collision “blown out of proportion” – rivals
Elvira
4th July 2024, 13:48
Two drivers that have the other side seat on their vision boards express with milquetoast passion that he may not be an asshat.
All that’s missing is some people fondly remembering Fangio sacrificing chickens at a race and redemption will be once again be ours.
Doh
4th July 2024, 18:22
It’s interesting how this is blown out of proportion but 3 years ago it was a different tone
MacLeod (@macleod)
4th July 2024, 13:49
As we thought the Media is blowing this up while the drivers find it racing (hard) …
We can close this chapter now as we have a new race to watch.
Nick T.
4th July 2024, 15:13
Watch Palmer’s analysis on F1TV. He wasn’t slamming him like he committed homicide like many are, but he did an extremely dispassionate frame-by-frame walk through of each of the incidents and showed how Max committed three different actions w/at least two of them being slam dunk penalties and one that might go either way. He had some criticism for both of them. And, unlike the ITV crew, he’s not one of those pro-British cheerleaders .
I can take what Albon said seriously since he’s dreaming of an RBR seat.
tielemst
4th July 2024, 15:21
I’m so tempted to report this, just for the fun of it :-)
PlosslF1 (@f1-ploss)
4th July 2024, 16:17
All this made me laugh out loud…. (mouse pointer hovers over report button)..
MacLeod (@macleod)
5th July 2024, 8:03
I am going to watch that analyse as he is normal very fair in his comments.
Jackl
4th July 2024, 13:51
The idea that you’re either pushing the limits of defense, and going over, or just wave someone by is tired and stupid. There’s a healthy medium in there or hard but fair racing, that most of the rest of the grid follows. Pundits need to call out this nonsensical logic more often.
That it’s almost always the same culprit speaks volumes.
HerbertSteward (@madlewis)
4th July 2024, 13:55
Offcourse it’s blown out of proportion. What else do you expect from the British Media. Verstappen triggers the British Media like no other does.
Armchair Expert (@armchairexpert)
4th July 2024, 14:17
It’s also the FIA Steward Johnny Herbert, who in Australia penalised Alonso when Russell was looking at his steering wheel instead of the car in front. Russell, Norris, Herbert, hmm….
Doh
4th July 2024, 21:58
It’s understandable when sometimes it’s blown out of proportion but if it’s other drivers it’s the other way around. This article is just a quarter of the grid btw. Don’t think any of the above drivers would think it’s fine if they were in Norris position
Matthijs (@matthijs)
4th July 2024, 14:00
You are not allowed to squeeze a driver off the track, so Verstappen was responsible for the collision. But it is very different to squeeze your opponent a little when there is a massive runoff or when there is a concrete wall. With the famous collision between Verstappen and Hamilton at turn 1 Monza in 2021, Hamilton also left less than 1 car’s width at the entry of the corner. But since there was an extra patch there was no issue.
It was just unfortunate that a minor wheel-to-wheel contact resulted in two punctures between Verstappen and Norris.
MaddSusie (@maddsusie)
4th July 2024, 14:24
To be fair, if we were watching in the so called Golden Era of F1, with the likes of Senna and Prost then what Lando and Max we’re doing would be considered nothing more than normal racing.
I can remember a few races where the leader would make their car as wide as possible to defend, moving numerous times and in the braking area. Possibly the best known is Senna and Mansell at Monaco, where Senna held the charging Mansell from passing (not because the circuit was Monaco) in 1992.
Prior to the collision with Max and Lando (ignoring the radio chatter), the racing between them was in some ways similar to that of racing 30 years ago, making late dives and direction changes to attack and defend.
Personally, I say let drivers defend properly rather than a single defensive move and let them race properly!
wooky
4th July 2024, 14:31
banging wheels was the exception and far from normal in the Senna era.
Matthijs (@matthijs)
4th July 2024, 14:42
I think that is indeed different from previous eras. Not so much the Senna era but very much so in the Clark/Brabham/Stewart era where wheelbanging was very much avoided. Verstappen does not shy away from making contact when he considers the risks relatively low of damage or injury, I think.
Ben
4th July 2024, 14:29
The only people blowing it out of proportion is British media and Lando fans
JJ (@jjfrazz)
4th July 2024, 14:32
To judge by the reaction of almost everyone, especially Keith, will they now call every race result from the last 70 years invalid because they were racing illegally? Or should we just call Formula 1 “playtime for children”?
Aquila_GD
4th July 2024, 14:46
Verstappen was at fault and moved under braking. He was punished. Story over. Not really.
Will he continue to do it again? Most likely.
And I have the popcorn ready to watch.
This idea of blowing things out of proportion is a gimmick. Formula one lives for rivalries and head to head. We need more of it. Thats why drive to survive works and most of us watch F1.
What I do not accept though is using falsitudes to make up a story and in this particular incident, there are no falsitudes. No one forced Lando to say what he did after the race or Verstappen to defend that aggresively or the stewards to even give a penalty.
Ruben
4th July 2024, 17:17
The drive to survive is the gimmick blowing things out of proportion. Formula one thrives on rivalries, but if the only role the gimmick plays is amplifying rivalries and, with that, setting fan groups up against each other (so you can eat popcorn) I’d say the sport would be better off without the gimmick. (Sorry to deny you your popcorn, you can eat it while watching politics :)
tielemst
4th July 2024, 14:49
I read Lando retracted most of his comments and thought it was good racing.
tielemst
4th July 2024, 14:51
According to dutch media at least
MacLeod (@macleod)
5th July 2024, 8:07
Not really those Media are more of different oppinion on this.
PlosslF1 (@f1-ploss)
4th July 2024, 14:57
Finally, someone coming out and saying moving in the braking zone, I can cancel that trip to the opticians now, my eyes weren’t lying to me.
And as for all this come on now lets move on and be diplomatic about things when Silverstone 21 is still being mentioned weekly if not daily.
Oh no no no, I’am gonna be like a dog with a bone on this one…digging it up for years :)
Patrick (@anunaki)
4th July 2024, 15:09
Max was blamed and penalised but Lando could’ve easily avoided the contact like Max did last year (or so) against Sainz just by going a bit to the left where was space. He might have won the race if he did.
Also Lando should’ve driven way slower to the pits, that’s what destroyed his car no the impact.
He probably learned a lot
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
4th July 2024, 16:56
Good to see everyone calling it by the name. It was a BIG push by the british media against Max, and Stella throwing 2021 comparisions made headlines, as intended.
Everything triggers people… the crash was a 100 km/h slight contact at the wrong angle which produced 2 punctures. That’s it.
Leo B
4th July 2024, 17:08
Norris has to stop being a moaning minnie. Take a leaf out of Piastri’s book.
Jere (@jerejj)
4th July 2024, 17:44
To an extent maybe, but I still expect more contact moments between them if & when they continue starting races close to each other & running in consecutive positions regularly.
F1 frog (@f1frog)
4th July 2024, 20:10
The crash was entirely Verstappen’s fault and it is absolutely right that he got a penalty. I am surprised to see other drivers disagreeing. Yes, the contact was very slight and at low speed so it wasn’t dangerous, but Verstappen still drove into Norris and took him out of the race, and that should obviously be a penalty. In my opinion, it should be far more than just ten seconds, but that is a statement about penalties for collisions in general rather than specifically singling out this one, as last year there were plenty of joke five-second penalties for crashing into other drivers, deliberate or not (Hamilton on Piastri in Monza, Perez on Albon in Singapore, Perez on Magnussen in Japan and Sargeant on Bottas in Japan for example).
Mayrton
5th July 2024, 10:11
I suggest you firstly look at what the rule book actually states about these situations and compare it to the individual laps on which they were battling. There was little to no reason to penalise Max.
Zooming in on the lap they touched: Max makes one change of direction (to the right, covering the inside of the corner) and then moves back to the racing line and moreover doesn’t go all across to the far left, but leaves a car’s width. This week on various media we have seen plenty of footage of other cars in the same corner in past GPs in which we clearly see the equivalents of Lando were all – without exception – way further to the left and partially on the kerb. Max left more ample space , in line with the rule book and he certainly didn’t crowd beyond the track.
Mayrton
5th July 2024, 10:00
You’d think? It has been an enlightening week and agenda’s were clearly revealed and exposed. F1 has a huge diversity/inclusion issue around its media partners. Time for some introspection and thorough thought on how to move forwards to maintain a global appeal.