Verstappen against Norris: The exchange of blows continued after the Spielberg race

The duel between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris at the top of the Formula 1 race in Spielberg was captivating.

For several laps, challenger Norris tried to overtake the world champion, which he managed to do at times, but the Dutchman always had an answer.

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Until lap 64, when Norris tried to pass the Red Bull driver on the outside in a sharp right-hand bend. Verstappen pushed the McLaren wide, there was contact and both opponents damaged their cars, which is why the victory ultimately went to George Russell.

The crucial scene in the video:

The incident from a different perspective:

The Briton won ahead of Oscar Piastri and Carlos Sainz. While Verstappen, who the race stewards identified as the culprit of this scene, came in fifth after a ten-second penalty, Norris was unable to continue.

After the race, the exchange of blows between the two continued – only with words.

“This is the stuff you don’t want to see. It’s as simple as that,” Verstappen commented on the incident. Shortly after crossing the finish line, the Dutchman had already expressed his incomprehension about the stewards’ point of view. “This is ridiculous. What should I have done?” he said on the pit radio.

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Norris countered. “I fought a fair, respectful battle at the limit. But that’s not what I got in return,” the Briton said to Verstappen.

The two are considered friends. Until now, at least.”Will the friendship between Max and me end? I don’t know, it will depend on him and how he explains it,” Norris said on Sunday, bitterly disappointed.

He even announced to Sky Italia: “If he says he’s right, it will be over, if he admits he did something stupid, I’ll understand.” Verstappen said: “It was a strange contact.”

Norris: “Then I lose a lot of respect for him”

The Dutchman explained that he did not have the feeling “that there was anything aggressive about this maneuver.” However, the stewards later blamed him for the collision because he closed the outside of the corner. “He can just go left or right,” said the world champion. He insisted that he did not illegally move his Red Bull again during the braking phase.

“If Max says he has done nothing wrong, I will lose a lot of respect for him,” said Norris. “We will talk about it, but not now,” Verstappen commented on the status quo of the relationship. “It is not the right time.”

Verstappen, who started from pole position, dominated the early stages of the race, but was caught by Norris after a slow second pit stop and a braking error. The McLaren driver then made several attempts to overtake his Red Bull rival. “It was a really great battle at times. Until it got out of hand, who was pushing whom more, who was violating the track limits more,” said Red Bull consultant Helmut Marko about the gripping finish in Spielberg.

Toto Wolff had a good laugh

Verstappen received verbal support from his team boss Christian Horner. “He (Norris; note) didn’t behave correctly,” said the Briton. Marko, on the other hand, said: “I would say that both of them drove unnecessarily hard.”

Mercedes came in third in this case. For the “Silver Arrows”, the duel between the two rivals had the best possible outcome. “You can see the two of them up front fighting hard. We know that they are really good friends and it was fun to watch them, that’s how I saw it at the time,” said team boss Toto Wolff.

“Of course, things got a bit more violent and then we said it was possible that they would collide. It actually happened, both of them had a puncture. We couldn’t believe it when we saw it.”