Much is being spewed about the crash involving Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, the pair colliding during an enthralling, rubber-rubbing duel for victory at the 2024 Austrian Grand Prix, which ended badly for them.
Here's a prelude to this report. What Austrian Grand Prix FIA F1 Stewards said of the collision between Verstappen and Norris:
"Car 1 [Verstappen] was approaching turn 3 with Car 4 [Norris] alongside on his left. Before turning in, the driver of Car 1 moved to the left, causing a collision with Car 4. The Stewards determine that the driver of Car 1 was predominantly at fault and therefore impose the above-mentioned penalty in line with precedents."
"Car 1 [Verstappen] was approaching turn 3 with Car 4 [Norris] alongside on his left. Before turning in, the driver of Car 1 moved to the left, causing a collision with Car 4. The Stewards determine that the driver of Car 1 was predominantly at fault and therefore impose the above-mentioned penalty in line with precedents."
The two best drivers in the sport at the moment - Verstappen and Norris - slugging it out for the victory after Red Bull fumbled their F1 World Champion's final pit stop which turned an eight-second pre-box lead to Norris big in their man's mirror's
Bonus for Norris was his McLaren was on fresh mediums, while Verstappen's Red Bull was 'wearing' a used set. It soon was evident that the driver of the #1 car was no match for his 'mate' in his mirrors.
Upon which Nasty Max emerged with those 'dark arts' moves that the very best have in their armoury when needed. Today he might have kept them holstered and settled for P2 behind his more deserving good buddy Lando.
F1 did not need an Orange Army track invasion for black-flagging the culprit
But that's not how Verstappen is wired. He has no mates and showed it by torpedoing Norris's chance of victory with a callous unsporting move that received the laughable 10-second penalty when a black flag would've been more appropriate.
The last thing F1 needed on Sunday was an Orange Army invasion of the Red Bull Ring because their driver was served with a black flag. But it would've been far fairer than the slapped wrist he got. He did get license penalty points for his shenanigans.
After finishing P5 in the race, Verstappen explained: "Of course from the outside, it's hard to see when I brake. I know in the past it was a bit of a complaint. I always move my wheel before I brake then you brake in a straight-line trajectory.
"It's always easy to say on the outside that I'm moving under the braking. I think the guy in the car knows best what he's doing."
Verstappen: I've had a lot of battles in my career
As for the FIA F1 Stewards' penalty: "That’s just ridiculous. He can’t just send it left and right. What do you want me to do? His dive bombs, he's so late on the breaks, I think it’s the shape of the corner that provides these issues sometimes."
Verstappen acknowledged: "I need to look back at why and how we touched of course we will talk about it, but it's just what happens. I've had a lot of battles in my career. The incident is one thing we’ve done wrong from the strategy and pit stop. The car was weird, the first stint wasn’t bad but got worse and worse. We need to look into the car."
After the race, Red Bull boss Christian Horner obviously backed his driver: "It looked like there was enough space up there for Lando. He already had the violation with the four strikes on track limits, but it's one of those things. We will bounce back next weekend.
"You've got hard racers and I think that Lando was getting his elbows out, and there had been contact before with them, but in the end, it cost both of them. I thought the penalty was harsh, that's racing sometimes," reckoned Horner.
It was a disappointing outcome of what might've been the most exciting GPs in a long time. But Verstappen showed that his ruthlessness knows no bounds. We thought he reserved the bullying and nastiness for Lewis Hamilton. No! That's how Max races, friend or foe.
While Verstappen is the most talented, respected and effective F1 driver ever, it's days like these where he does himself no favours. One could argue he owes his mate Lando an apology because the Briton has only ever shown Max total respect.
After Round 11 of the 2024 F1 World Championship, Verstappen's lead in the Drivers' standings extends to 81 points over Norris.
Big Question: Verstappen-Norris, what are your thoughts on the Austrian Grand Prix battle?
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