Verstappen versus Norris: Suddenly everyone is behind Max at Silverstone

"I don't think he needed to apologize," Lando Norris began the press conference ahead of the British Grand Prix. "I think some of the things I said in the pen after the race were just more just because I was frustrated at the time. A lot of adrenaline, a lot of just emotions."

Norris was open and honest at the press conference: he might have overreacted after the Austrian GP. Of course, the two did not entirely agree on the incident, but they both wanted to move on again. They spoke twice between the two races and soon came to the conclusion that the fight was actually fun.

Verstappen and Norris spoke to each other

For Norris, it was also a new situation. For years he fought in the midfield and now he was fighting for his second win in F1. Verstappen knows that feeling all too well and therefore does not blame Norris for being a bit more emotional after the race. The two friends made up, something Verstappen felt was very important.

The two friends have made up, but there was also a real war of the two sides in the media and on online platforms after the GP in Austria. One camp defended Max, while the other attacked Verstappen. Verstappen was particularly harshly attacked in the British media after the race, but it turns out that just about the entire F1 paddock in the UK is behind Verstappen.

Almost every driver was asked about the duel between Norris and Verstappen and the answer came down to the same thing every time: the rules are clear, there is certainly no need to add any rules and what Verstappen did was 'not too bad'.

This is what the F1 paddock thinks about Verstappen

"Max is one of the best, and he's a hard racer, and he'll push the rules to the limit, as all of the top drivers do," George Russell revealed in the press conference. Yuki Tsunoda also stated earlier that it was not all that bad: "I mean to me it was pretty normal. I've seen much worse than that."

Ricciardo, who raced with Verstappen for a long time, echoed the same opinion: "I don't know, I'm assuming they've probably blown it up because it's obviously a battle for the lead and once friends, now enemies. It's probably that going on."

None of the drivers felt that Verstappen had crossed the line. No one felt that Verstappen had driven dangerously or recklessly in Austria and that the end result, a moment of contact between the two, was an unfortunate confluence of circumstances.

The criticism that the rules were not clear or that Verstappen had not been following them for years was also denied by all drivers who were asked about it. For where Andrea Stella spoke out harshly after the race about Verstappen being allowed to break rules even in 2021, none of the drivers agreed. Indeed, most drivers revealed that they would prefer fewer rules and that amount of rules would actually be detrimental to the sport.

Carlos Sainz, for example, pointed to the book of rules there is for racing, pointing out that there are rules written out for all scenarios. "I really struggle with the fact that we need to keep adding rules to the racing side. I don't want any further rules. The rules are clear enough and there was a decision taken on the steward side already so it's not like there's nothing much to talk."

In response to a question from GPblog, Verstappen closed the day on a similar note: "Look at the rule book from 10 years 15 years ago to now, it just keeps on growing. So that's probably also the world that we live in."