Max Verstappen and Lando Norris collided while battling for the lead in the closing stages of the Austrian Grand Prix; damage from the incident forced Norris to retire, while Verstappen finished fifth after pitting; Verstappen's world championship lead grew to 81 points
Monday 1 July 2024 08:10, UK
Lando Norris says he will "lose a lot of respect" for Max Verstappen if his championship rival doesn't accept responsibility for causing a collision between them as they battled for the lead of the Austrian Grand Prix.
McLaren's Norris was attempting to pass Red Bull's Verstappen with eight laps to go when the pair made contact at Turn 3, with the stewards later giving the Dutchman a 10-second penalty for causing the collision.
Both cars sustained damage, with Verstappen pitting before finishing fifth, while the more severe harm done to the McLaren forced Norris to retire from the race, as Mercedes' George Russell claimed an unlikely victory.
The end result ultimately aided Verstappen's quest for a fourth successive drivers' title, with the 10 points he scored extending his lead over second-placed Norris to 81.
"I'm disappointed, nothing more than that, honestly," Norris told Sky Sports F1. "It was a good race. I looked forward to probably I'd say 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, and I feel like I did a good job but I got taken out of the race, so nothing more than that."
Asked whether the incident would impact his strong friendship with Verstappen, Norris added: "I don't know. It depends what he says. If he says 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 just being a bit reckless in a way, then I'll have a small amount of respect for it.
"But it's still a tough one to take when we're fighting for the win and I'm trying to be fair from my side and he just wasn't. That's not what I'm thinking about. I don't care about that now. I'm just gutted for the team."
Verstappen had appeared to be easing towards victory for much of the afternoon but a slow final pit stop from Red Bull brought Norris back into the contest and set up a grandstand finish.
With Norris within DRS range of Verstappen, the pair battled for several laps with each complaining over team radio about the other's driving.
Asked whether the stewards should have intervened before the collision, Norris said: "Yeah. I mean there's a rule. You're not allowed to react to the other driver and that's what he did three times out of three. Two times I managed to avoid it and not lock up and run into him, and the third time he just ran into me.
"I was just trying to drive my race. He was clearly a lot slower at the end. He ruined his own race just as much as he ruined mine. There's nothing more I can do. I did my best and it was good enough. Got ruined through not my own fault."
Verstappen insisted that he was not guilty of moving under braking, despite that being the consensus among Sky Sports F1's pundits.
"Of course from the outside it's hard to see when I brake. I know in the past it was a bit of a complaint," Verstappen told Sky Sports F1.
"Now I always move my wheel before I brake then you brake in a straight line trajectory. It's always easy to say on the outside that I'm moving under the 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. I'm in control. Of course, from the outside it's easy to judge and comment but whatever, it's what happens."
Asked about Norris' comments over a potential loss of respect, Verstappen offered a calm response.
"I need to look back at how or why we touched," he said. "Of course, we will talk about it. It's just unfortunate it happened.
"I felt like sometimes he dive-bombed so late on the brakes. One time he went straight. One time I had to go around the sausage otherwise we would have touched.
"I think it's also the shape of the corner provides these kind of issues sometimes. I've had it also the other way around. It is what it is. It's never nice to come together."
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