Lando Norris says he will “lose respect” for Max Verstappen if the Dutch driver insists he did nothing wrong during their controversial clash at the Austrian Formula 1 Grand Prix. After a heated battle that lasted several laps, Norris and Verstappen finally got into a scuffle on the 64th lap at the Red Bull Ring, when both had light hits at Turn 3 which left them both injured. tire puncture. Verstappen pitted and tried to finish fifth, while Norris’s McLaren was too damaged to continue.
Afterwards, Norris criticized Verstappen for being “desperate” and “reckless” for moving into the braking zone and actively colliding, causing the Red Bull driver to receive a 10-second penalty. But he also expects an apology from Verstappen, with whom he has a close relationship, after the Dutchman initially appeared to want to avoid responsibility for the incident.
When asked by Motorsport.com if he wanted to clarify the matter with Verstappen, Norris replied: “I don’t have the right to say, but he has the right to say.” “I’m trying to race in a good and fair way. But that’s not what I get from him. “I felt what he did was unfair to me on three occasions. There was no warning given. He did it again one last time and ruined both our races, that’s it. “
Following the Sky Sports F1 program, he added: “If he says he did nothing wrong then I will lose a lot of respect for that.” Verstappen said he will speak to Norris about their collision, but wants things to calm down before sitting down with his rival.
“We will talk about it, but not now. This is not the right time, it’s better to calm down,” he said. “We’re all race car drivers. Of course, you don’t want to collide with each other. When you’re fighting for the lead, it’s always tough battles. “It happened today, of course it’s embarrassing. I’m upset, he’s upset. I think that’s fair. “Of course, Lando and I have a small age gap, which is why we’ve never really raced each other in the lower categories than some of the other riders here. But yeah , we will continue from here.”
