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Lando Norris was furious at Max Verstappen for “ruining his race” after the pair collided towards the end of a dramatic Austrian Grand Prix.
The leading duo were fighting for the lead of the race, with Norris complaining twice about Verstappen moving in the braking zone as he vied for first place.
Then, on lap 64, Norris and Verstappen collided at turn three and both sustained punctures, allowing George Russell to come through and win the race at the Red Bull Ring.
Verstappen was handed a 10-second time penalty by the stewards but still finished fifth, while Norris was unable to complete the race due to damage to his McLaren car.
Speaking afterwards, an angry Norris said: “I don’t know what to say… disappointed. I looked forward to a strong, fair battle but I wouldn’t say that’s what it was in the end. It was a mistake-free race from my side.”
On Verstappen moving in the braking zone, he said: “There’s a rule: you’re not allowed to react to another driver, three out of three – two times I avoided it, third time he ran into me.
“He was clearly slower at the end, he ruined his own race as much as he ruined mine. Nothing more I can do. Got ruined through not my fault.
“There’s rules, if the rules aren’t followed, nothing I can do about that. Do my job, go out and drive fast. From my side, just carry on doing what I’m doing. I’m happy with my improvements from yesterday to today and onto Silverstone.”
Norris and Verstappen are good friends off track and regularly play padel together in Monaco but, with the Brit the closest challenger to the Dutchman, this incident could be a turning point in their relationship.
On whether he’ll speak to Verstappen, Norris added: “It depends what he says. If he says he did nothing wrong, I’ll lose a lot of respect for that.
“If he admits to being a bit stupid and running into me, and being reckless, then I’ll have a small amount of respect! It’s still a tough one to take, fighting for the win. I’m gutted for the team.”
Verstappen, in his response, refused to take the blame for the incident.
“From the outside, it’s hard to see where I brake,” he said. “In the past, it’s been a complaint. Now, I always move my wheel when I brake – it’s easy to say but I think the guy in the car knows what he’s doing.
On various pundits thinking he was to blame, Verstappen replied: “Everyone can have their opinion, I’m the one driving, best in control! From the outside, it’s easy to judge and comment.
“I felt like these divebombs… one time he went straight, one time I had to go around the sausage [kerb], the shape of the corner provides these kind of issues. It is what it is, it’s never nice to come together.
“I need to look back at how and why we touched, of course we’ll talk about it. It was just unfortunate we touched.
“This incident, this is just one thing. We look at the race, we did a lot of things wrong – strategy and pit stops. The first stint was not too bad, then it became worse and worse. We need to look into the car and see what went wrong during the race. “
