Lando Norris has admitted that he will ‘lose respect’ for Max Verstappen if he refuses to take responsibility and apologise for his role in their lap 64 crash at the Austrian Grand Prix.
The two championship rivals were battling hard during the closing stages of the Austrian GP after a poor Red Bull pit stop left Verstappen just two seconds clear of the McLaren driver heading into the final stint.
After a couple of failed overtaking manoeuvres, Norris lunged to the outside of his rival at Turn Three on lap 64, but Verstappen moved under braking, meaning the pair made contact.
Both drivers suffered punctures from the clash but Norris came out worse off. His right rear tyre completely delaminated, forcing him to retire the car, while Verstappen was able to continue to a P5 finish, despite a 10-second time penalty.
Speaking to Sky Sports F1 about the future of his friendship with Verstappen, Norris said: “I don’t know, it depends what he says. If he says he did nothing wrong, then I’ll lose a lot of respect for that.
“If he admits to being a bit stupid and running into me and being a bit reckless in a way, then I’ll lose a small amount of respect for him, but it’s still a tough one to take when you’re fighting for the win.
I’m trying to be fair from my side and he just wasn’t. I don’t know, that’s all I’m thinking about. I don’t care now, I’m just gutted for the team.”
For his part, Verstappen denied moving under braking. “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.
“Now 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. But I think the guy in the car knows best what he’s doing.”
