Stella disagrees with Verstappen: 'Norris didn't do a divebomb'

Verstappen already complained during the race that Norris was 'dive-bombing' him. The McLaren driver made several attempts while he was still quite far away from the Dutchman on braking. Eventually, the much-discussed crash ensued, with Norris trying to go around the outside and the two hitting each other.

Stella disagrees with Verstappen

Stella disagrees with Verstappen's accusations: "I think Lando going for the inside, it's like he goes into a gap that exists, and if he's not conditioned to make it, he would go long. If he actually does a divebomb, he is not going to be able to hold the racing line. If he doesn't hold the racing line, the car that is on the outside is going to have the inside, and he's going to accelerate much faster, and he's going to hold the position. So in itself, the car that is ahead and stays on the outside has the operating space to take advantage of the divebomb."

The McLaren team boss continued: "If the car driving on the inside is able to hold the racing line, that is not a divebomb, because there is a way it can stay on the racing line. Crossing the lines is one of the most frequent manoeuvres in the case of overtaking. The layout of corner 3  induced drivers to attempt this kind of manoeuvres but it's not like Lando, a divebomb means that this is a violent action."

This article was written in collaboration with Olly Darcy