Lando Norris branded Max Verstappen’s driving as “desperate” and “reckless” in the clash between them that spoiled his win hopes in Formula 1’s Austrian Grand Prix.
Norris was unable to retain speed with Verstappen during the opening two stints, but he capitalised on a sluggish pit stop from Red Bull which eradicated the margin.
The Briton sensed that his second win was attainable and closed to inside DRS range to have several moves at passing Verstappen which the Red Bull driver repelled.
Norris had been complaining that Verstappen was moving under braking and their duel soon ended in disaster on Lap 64 as the two came to blows going into Turn 3.
Both drivers would incur punctures, but while Verstappen recovered to come home in fifth place and bag fastest lap, Norris parked his McLaren in the pits and retired.
Norris has accepted that he anticipates racing against Verstappen to be hard-fought, but he’s claimed that his rival’s driving overstepped the mark at the Red Bull Ring.
“I expect a tough battle against Max, I know what to expect, I expect aggression and pushing the limits and that kind of thing,” Norris said.
“But all three times he’s doing stuff that can easily cause an incident, and in the way it’s just a bit reckless, it seemed like a little bit desperate from his side.
“Doesn’t need to be, he’s got plenty of wins, but a bit desperate to do what he could to not let me past.
“I know he’s going to be aggressive so I’m in a way not surprised… I just expected a tough, fair, respectful on the edge bit of racing, and I don’t feel like that’s what I got.”
Norris has insisted he’s satisfied with how he positioned his car during the tussle and has reiterated that Verstappen was straddling a dangerous line with his moves.
“The thing is a little bit of movement is going to happen, but he’s completely reacting to what I was doing,” Norris explained.
“And once you’ve committed so aggressively on the brakes you don’t leave room for getting off and allowing a bit more space in the braking zone, once you’ve committed you’ve committed, he moved which forced me to move and therefore I would lock up or do something, but every point before he moved I was not locked up or out of control.
“My moves were fair, until I had to react to something he did in the middle of the braking zone, and you don’t have grip, you’re not able to…
“Once you’re on the edge to adjust and counter these kinds of things, at the same time if I’m not able to move like I was then you’re going to have more collisions.
“As I said, happy with what I did, wouldn’t change anything.”
Norris also conceded the damage to his McLaren MCL38 sustained from the blow with Verstappen could have further ramifications down the line with the cost cap.
“I don’t think I need to change anything I’m doing, I was on the edge of the track, I don’t know what else I’m able to do, he’s always a bit like that,
“But I respect Max a lot. There’s times where I think he goes a little bit too far, little bit of that, at the same time these things happen.
“I’m disappointed it ruined the race, destroyed the car. In terms of upgrades and budget caps and that, so the car is destroyed and these are bits we need for next week.
“It’s not just a repercussion of things that happen on track it’s now what we carry into Silverstone and be disadvantaged by, yeah, just expected a bit more from him.”
Asked whether he would sound Verstappen out to clear the air over the incident, Norris responded: “It’s not for me to say it’s for him to say.”
