The fact only one of the two drivers who collided while fighting for the lead in the Austrian Grand Prix finished the race appears to have been down to luck.
Max Verstappen and Lando Norris drove back to the pits on punctured tyres following their collision on lap 64 of the race.However Norris suffered more extensive damage to his tyre than Verstappen did, which tore away a large part of the McLaren’s floor, and led his team to retire him from the race. Verstappen also sustained floor damage but was able to continue after Red Bull replaced his tyre, and went on to finished fifth.
After the race Norris suspected he might also have been able to continue in the race had he “got back to the pits in a better way” by driving slower. However Pirelli’s chief engineer Simone Berra believes the tyre came apart in the way it did because of the way it was cut.
“In my opinion it was just a matter of the point where the tyre was damaged,” Berra added. “I think Max was more lucky.”
Although McLaren have been able to replace the damaged parts for this weekend’s race, Norris expects the time spent repairing his car will have a knock-on effect later in the championship, as money spent repairing damage comes out of what they can spend under the budget cap.
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“Everything’s okay, it’s more just like longer-term stuff it’s impacted more than just this weekend,” he said. “We have some spare floors that were already damaged before, which we’ve been able to repair and kind of get things ready for.”
This weekend’s race concludes the first run of three consecutive events this year. Norris said McLaren ensured they had a stock of parts to cope with any damage.
“The team have done an amazing job to get things ready. We knew with three races in a row, easily things can go wrong and you can easily have a lot of damage.
“It’s not hard to damage a floor in the first place. You can run over an exit kerb and it can be damaged quite easily.
“The team have done a good job to make sure we’ve had enough and we’ve got some more for this weekend and some repaired ones. Maybe not in a perfect place, but a sidepod and brake ducts, all these kinds of things, they all add up.
“When you’re in a tight fight for a championship and you’re pushing hard, you’re always trying to push the boundaries of everything, just like the racing is. With the budget cap and upgrades and CFD, all those types of things, you just want every bit of money possible.”
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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
Doh
5th July 2024, 21:46
As I mentioned in a previous article it’s can really go either way. 81 point lead. Extended by 10 instead 7 had Norris finished 2nd to max.
The other scenario in these fine lines was Norris taking the win with max out the points which would have left if with a fascinating 46 point gap.
Doh
5th July 2024, 21:48
It*
Would have left us*
Apologies for the mistakes
SuperIU
5th July 2024, 23:27
What I don’t undestand is how both, Ver and Nor return their cars with damage and falling parts of the chasis and stewards don’t even look at it, just after a week where they handed 3 grid positions penalty to Per for the same reason.
Meaybe because both are Europeans or they are fighting for the championship… but inconsistency is always there every race. Shame
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
6th July 2024, 0:06
I’m guessing it’s a matter of probability of points-scoring? Both norris and verstappen, with a regular puncture, had reasonable scoring chances, perez didn’t in that particular case, there was a SC, but he was already well outside the points before the impact, he would’ve been dead last and probably lapped after he came out, and although they allow drivers to unlap themselves behind SC nowadays, it’s a bit hit and miss when they do.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
6th July 2024, 8:41
That was one of my reactions but having had a look at it I think it’s clear why the Perez case attracted a penalty and those two didn’t:
How Norris avoided two British GP penalties after collision with Verstappen