This was Norris’ ‘crack’ against Verstappen after his accident in Austria and Max’s reaction

Lando Norris and Max Verstappen did not hide their good relationship. Without going any further, after the Canadian GP, ​​both smiled at sharing the podium. It’s true that last year, Lando surprised when he made it clear that he didn’t like what a journalist said that he was Max’s best friend. “He’s not my best friend. Don’t repeat that. We respect each other and we get along, we’re kind of friends, but it’s nothing more than that. We just respect each other,” he said then, at the end of the last campaign. I knew that if I wanted to fight for the title, friendship had to be put aside.

However, their relationship is very good. Although in F1, it’s usually like this until you fight for the same goal. When a friend becomes a rival, he becomes an enemy. It just does losing the spark to change everything. And it happened. It is clear that there will be a before and after in their relationship since what happened this Sunday at the Austrian GP. Both collided in the fight for victory and punctured their tires as a result of that double impact in an action that saw Verstappen receive a 10-second penalty.

Lando complained on numerous occasions that Max was changing direction under braking and they finally collided in the final turns. Verstappen went wide and missed Norris twice. That resulted in two holds and a hole for both of them leaving them without a victory. For this reason, after the race, the Briton did not hesitate to be strong in his statements with strong complaints about Max’s attitude, which he understood did not want to accept what could be a defeat.

Norris complains about Max: “I expected more respect”

“He didn’t leave me any room. He went against me. Overtaking Max you expect it to be complicated, not easy, and it’s something that could be expected, although I expected more respect”said Lando Norris on ‘DAZN’.

“I didn’t even expect it to be fair, because sometimes races are not fair, but I expected more respect. I know it will be difficult, that we will go to the limit, that we will push a little, but it was careless because of his “On the other hand, I don’t have to do this, I just don’t want to accept the loss of a race and it has out of the race for both of us.”he added.

Furthermore, he made it clear that, contrary to what Verstappen did, who could have finished 5th to increase his World Championship lead over Norris himself after that crash, he decided not to continue due to the injury to his car

“There is too much damage to the car. There are parts we need for next week and I think it will cause more damage to get back on track and cause an accident more easily. The floor is completely enough for two or three points, but better keep the whole car for next week.

Verstappen’s reaction: pointing at Red Bull

For his part, Max Verstappen, who is more used to this kind of fights and controversies because of his previous fight with Hamilton in 2021, did not want to make any importance of what happened and he also did not want to have a bad word about Lando Norris. Of course, he points to his team, making it clear that without a bad last stop of more than 6 seconds, that accident wouldn’t have happened because Lando wouldn’t have happened to him.

“The start was good but then my performance faded. It’s hard to drive a car and then the strategy, lThe stops are really bad. We gave up a few seconds and allowed Lando Norris to get back into the fight. “Otherwise, in those 6 or 7 seconds it’s different,” Max commented on ‘DAZN’.

“We will have to see the replays. I think we are both disappointed, without a doubt”ended when asked about Norris’ complaints after the accident, avoiding any controversy and cross-talk.

Verstappen later became clear, on ‘Canal + France’, when they told him he could let Norris pass: “I might as well stay home… I’m here to win, not to finish second.” Max in its purest form.