Horner: Maybe Verstappen and Norris won’t play paddle

Verstappen and Norris have been known to be buddies, if such a thing existed in the Formula 1 paddock, but recently they have been racing closely, and after a few races of near misses, the inevitable finally happened and they crashed fighting for the lead in the Austrian Grand Prix, Verstappen found guilty.

Norris admitted he would lose respect to Verstappen if the latter does not apologize for the accident, something he would really have to wait for it to happen.

After the race, Horner spoke to the media, including GrandPrix247, about the incident and was asked about its effect on Verstappen and Norris' so called friendship.

"Maybe they won’t play paddle tomorrow!" Horner quipped. "But I am sure they will talk about it. They are two hard racers and they will talk about things openly. I have got no doubt about that."

Asked whether there are friendships between F1 drivers, the Red Bull boss said: "There are relationships between drivers that vary up and down the grid.

"Ultimately there is a respect which is the most important thing and inevitably friendships are put under pressure when you are competing hard," he insisted.

As for McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella, he was asked if the relationship between the two drivers will be affected, he said: "I hope that's not going to be the case.

"Obviously, when there's a rivalry in professional sport, at the pinnacle of sport, under the pressure that these guys experience, it's always going to be a bit on the edge in terms of the implication for the human relationships. But if the drivers were able to show respect, and if the drivers were able to show integrity, and if the drivers were able to say, 'Apologies, I overcooked it, I collided, my apologies', I think the human relationship can continue.

"And actually, you will gain if anything even more respect, because you can see he is a tough contender, but at the same time, he can be somebody that can apologize. Like, I think it won't be necessarily dependent on the outcome of the incident. But it will be more dependent on the values that you deploy before, during and after, throughout the experience as a driver.

"So, I don't think this is compromised. But this is a case in which somebody will have to apologize," Stella concluded.