The 2024 Formula One season is starting to feel like a deja vu, except it’s not Lewis Hamilton battling Max Verstappen for race victories but his British compatriot and lead McLaren driver, Lando Norris. What’s more, similar to the scenes that unfurled in 2021, Norris and Verstappen are on the cusp of destroying their friendship as they battle each other for the world championship title this year. And, the Austrian Grand Prix could prove to be the turning point of their relationship on and off the track.
Until the sprint race on Saturday, Norris and Verstappen visibly had respect for each other. The wheel-to-wheel battles were clean, and both the drivers made it a certainty to keep their aggressions under check. However, things seem to have gone overboard during the main race at the Red Bull Ring, and Verstappen’s post-race comments clearly suggest more of a disappointment over anger towards his fellow rival, Norris.
Max Verstappen unhappy with Lando Norris’ aggression
Verstappen reckoned that Norris was just sending it “left and right,” and suggested that an incident was always on the cards because of such aggression. “You can’t just send it left and right. What do you want me to do?” the Dutchman questioned on the team radio. “The race itself is also just sh*t, to be honest. I need things to improve on, but it’s what it is.”
📻| Max: “You can’t just send it left and right. What do you want me to do?”
GP: “He didn’t behave correctly there, Max. So yeah, desperately unlucky, especially here, but you did your very best.”
Max: “The race itself is also just shit, to be honest. I need things to improve…
— RBR News 🇳🇱🇲🇽 (@redbulletin) June 30, 2024
But, that wasn’t the interesting part of this controversy, as that came from Christian Horner. The Red Bull boss openly accused Norris of trying to sabotage Verstappen’s race knowing his own race was about to end because of the impending track limits penalty. Here’s what Horner said according to Fastest Pitstop on X.
“It felt like [Norris] was trying to cause something up at Turn 3” after knowing he would get a track limits penalty.”
What led to the controversial Verstappen-Norris incident at Austrian GP?
Here’s what really happened at the Austrian Grand Prix. For the majority of the race, Verstappen looked fairly comfortable albeit with some complaints over the team radio, which as always, were calmly handled by his race engineer, GP. However, a mistake during the final pit stop meant that all the lead he had gathered over the course of the race was gone in a moment, leaving Verstappen vulnerable to his looming title rival, Norris.
Furthermore, with Norris having a visible tire advantage over Verstappen, the so-called flying Dutchman had to pull off a spectacular defensive strategy to deny Norris a second race victory. And quite unsurprisingly, Verstappen did not make it easy for Norris, forcing the Briton to think out of the box. Subsequently, desperation came into play, as Norris began lunging into the inside of turn 3.
— scuderiafemboy (@archive33mv) June 30, 2024
Norris was attempting the same move lap after lap but was either too far off or Verstappen positioned his car perfectly. However, then came the lap where neither of the factors was an issue, and obviously, Norris went for it. Only this time, the move came from around the outside of turn 3, and Verstappen decided to squeeze Norris, leaving room for neither and subsequently causing a collision. Both drivers ended up puncturing their tires, gifting the victory to George Russell.
While Verstappen managed to finish the race in P5, Norris, frustratingly enough, retired from the race altogether.
Sara Chavan