Daniel Ricciardo has argued Max Verstappen didn’t deserve the “hammering” he received in reaction to his clash with Lando Norris in Formula 1’s Austrian Grand Prix.
Verstappen was contesting the race lead with seven laps remaining at the Red Bull Ring when he squeezed Norris under braking towards Turn 3 and the two touched.
Both drivers incurred punctures from the minor contact, but Verstappen continued and his punishment was inconsequential as he classified where he finished in fifth.
But with Norris and Verstappen settling their on-track dispute in the succeeding week, Ricciardo contends the widespread response to the entire saga was overblown.
“Like, look, it sounds like people are probably hammering Max a bit,” Ricciardo addressed at Silverstone when asked about the incident the previous week in Spielberg.
“I don’t know if it’s, it sounds like it’s probably blown a little bit out of proportion. Like, I say he’s unchecked.
“When I say he’s unchanged, I think he’s, the way he goes racing, obviously, like, leaves it all out on the track and that’s also what a lot of fans have in mind about him.
“But do I think he matured since the start of his career? Absolutely. Um, so, yeah, it’s not like he’s finding himself in these positions all the time. Yeah, I don’t know.
“I don’t think it needs any real addressing at the moment. But, yeah, you’re fighting for a win. It was unfortunate. I don’t think the incident they had was dangerous.
“It was fairly low speed at that. It wasn’t like, obviously, a Turn 9 situation here [Silverstone] at Copse ’21. That was, that obviously had a bit, a lot bigger consequence.
“But if this goes on the next few races and it’s like, ‘oh, wow, this is, okay’. I’m not sure if one race is enough to create a narrative of, ‘oh, nothing’s changed’ kind of thing.”
Ricciardo, who endured a race-ending clash with Verstappen in Baku in 2018, has claimed drivers should anticipate a no-quarters given battle when it is over the lead.
“You have to expect that,” Ricciardo stressed when asked about being prepared to race hard against Verstappen. “But, you know, I don’t even want to spotlight Max.
“I think when you’re fighting for a win, it’s, you know, you fight for a win. Are you going to fight harder than fighting for 15th place? Honestly, yes, because that’s just how it is.
“So I think it’s to be expected. And, you know, I’m not saying, OK, whether everything was correct and by the book. Yeah, maybe some things were pushing it.
“But again, I don’t think it’s they’re going to talk about it because it’s for the win. And as I said, I’ll probably try and create some enemies out of the two kids that get along.
“But I think honestly, it’s good that there’s a hard battle for the lead. And unfortunately, it ended that way for them. But that’s how it goes.”
Ricciardo also appeared to side with Red Bull boss Christian Horner’s view that Norris’ more aggressive approach derived from his failed passing moves in the Sprint.
“Look no one in this sport wants to be the one that gets bullied,” the Australian added. “Like so you want to stand your ground against everyone.
“And obviously it’s your reputation as well. And when people come up to you on track, you don’t want them to think, ‘oh, this guy is going to be an easy one for me’.
“So you always want to have your elbows out to an extent. We know Max from day one has always had his out. And I think just naturally his DNA, he just is a tough racer.
“It’s not something he has to really dig deep for. It’s just that’s just how he races. So it’s kind of unconditional with him that you’re going to get a tough battle.
“But yeah, it doesn’t necessarily maybe change the way you race him. You just know that you’re going to have to pull off a really good move and make sure you make it stick.
“I think Lando learned that on Saturday. I think he thought he probably had it down and Max said, ‘no not today’. So it’s like you learn, you live and you learn.
“Obviously then, yeah, I think Lando made some bold moves on Sunday and had his elbows out too. And as I said, unfortunate that I think the outcome was what it was.”
