F1 News
Norris details his frustration with Verstappen in lead up to the crash
Even before Lando Norris and Max Verstappen came together at the Austrian Grand Prix, the Birt was not impressed by the Dutchman's movements on track. On lap 64 of Sunday's race, a collision between the two championship leaders caused punctures for the pair of them. For Norris, it resulted in a DNF, whereas Verstappen recovered and finished in P5, extending his lead in the drivers' standings despite receiving a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision.
Norris says "his moves were fair" while defending
Speaking after the race, Norris highlighted that he was not best pleased about the moves coming from Verstappen in front before they made contact: "A little bit of movement is always going to happen. But he's completely reacting to what I was doing. And once you've committed so aggressively on the brakes, you don't leave room for getting off and allowing a bit more space in the middle of a braking zone. Once you've committed, you've committed. And he would move, which forced me to move. And therefore I would lock up or do something."
After leading the Grand Prix by about eight seconds in front of the Orange Army at the Red Bull Ring, a slow pit stop from Red Bull meant that the gap was cut down to just two seconds. Norris also had fresh mediums compared to Verstappen's older tyres, meaning Norris was in the ascendency and was looking for a move to take the lead.
The McLaren driver could not get through the first couple of times as Verstappen defended smartly. He then went for two ambitious divebombs into Turn 3, almost causing collisions there and then as Verstappen moved questionably under braking to defend P1. A move around the outside from Norris on lap 62 caused the contact, with Verstappen moving again under braking to block Norris, with very small but consequential contact changing the race and leaving the McLaren driver out of the race.
"I was not able to control those types of things," continued the McLaren driver. "My moves were fair until I had to react to something he did in the middle of a braking zone. You don't have the grip, once you're on the edge, to just adjust and counter these kinds of things. And at the same time, if I'm not able to move like I was, then you're going to have more collisions. So like I said, not for me to decide. I'm happy with what I did. I wouldn't change anything."