McLaren boss Andrea Stella has hit back at Max Verstappen’s claim that Lando Norris was ‘divebombing” him before their collision in Formula 1’s Austrian Grand Prix.
Verstappen and Norris clashed during a fight over the race win with seven laps remaining when the Red Bull racer moved over on the McLaren under braking at Turn 3.
Both drivers incurred punctures from the light contact which wrecked their victory chances, with Verstappen trailing home in fifth place while Norris retired altogether.
Norris was livid with Verstappen as he branded his approach “desperate” and “reckless”, but the Dutchman denied that his moving under braking overstepped the line.
Instead, Verstappen critiqued Norris’ previous failed attempts to make late lunges down the reigning champion’s inside, citing that such moves are “not how you race”.
But Stella countered Verstappen’s assessment as he pinpointed that Norris’ dives either saw him slow down enough to remain on track or compromised his own line.
“I think Lando going for the inside, is like he goes in a gap that exists and if you’re not in a condition to make it he would go long,” Stella explained.
“If he’s really diving like a bomb he’s not going to be able to hold the racing line.
“If he doesn’t hold the racing line, the car that is on the outside is going to have the inside, is going to accelerate much faster and is going to hold the position.
“So in itself, the car that is ahead and stays on the outside, he has the operating space to take advantage of the fact that allegedly the car is bombing.
“Because if the car that is going on the inside is able to hold the racing line, then that’s not a bomb drop, that’s a car that exploits the limit in a way that allows him to stay on the racing line.
“So like crossing the lines I think is one of the most frequent maneuvers in case of overtaking.
“We have to say that the layout of Turn 3 sort of induces drivers to attempt these kind of manoeuvres.
“‘Bomb’ means there was violence, there is an explosion, there’s some contact.
“Nowhere near Lando’s manoeuvres were going to cause this kind of outcome. So I think this seems like a colourful, excessive description.”
Stella agreed with Norris that Verstappen was wrong to be uncompromising in that situation as he is adamant the battle would’ve continued into the remaining laps.
“I think we talked with Lando, I saw his comments,” he stated. “I think he said the right things in saying it’s a great battle, but there’s no need to act so desperately.
“There’s no need to think that the world is going to finish if the overtaking manoeuvre by the car behind is going to be completed.
“Max, you’ll have your own opportunity. It’s not going to finish the world now if he makes it, he’s deserving to make it.
“Like just… that’s the kind of message and for us like we would like to hope that’s the case in the future. Yeah. I would like to, yeah, don’t add any more.”
