For most of the Austrian Grand Prix, Max Verstappen was comfortably on course for his eighth win of the season. However, a poor pit stop for the Dutchman led to a late-race battle with the McLaren of Lando Norris that cost both drivers the chance of victory. Now, Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko is not happy with that outcome, as he called out both Norris and Verstappen for showing “unnecessary” aggressiveness.
A slow second pitstop for Verstappen allowed Norris to close the gap and mount a challenge for the lead in the closing stages of the race. The tension between the two drivers had been escalating, with the Briton making several unsuccessful overtaking attempts at Turn 3 in the laps leading up to the collision.
Lando ⚔️ Max: The battle of Turn 3 #F1 #AustrianGP pic.twitter.com/VVMNhUStn4
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 1, 2024
However, the decisive moment came on lap 64 when Norris made another bold move, positioning his MCL38 on the outside of Verstappen’s RB20 as they approached Turn 3. As the two cars entered the braking zone, Verstappen moved slightly to the left. This movement led to wheel-to-wheel contact, resulting in both cars sustaining simultaneous rear tire punctures.
Speaking to ServusTV after the race, Marko commented on the incident. “I think they both drove unnecessarily ferocious, in doing so, perhaps we should have intervened too because we knew that an investigation into Lando regarding track limits was underway, but we still didn’t know if he would be punished,” said the 81-year-old, as per FormulaPassion.
He also pointed out how many things had gone wrong for Verstappen and Norris to be so close together on the track in the first place. Marko explained how the hard tires didn’t work as they expected in the middle stint. Then the bad pit stop followed by Max stalling the car in Turn 4 on his out lap was good enough for the #4 driver to close the gap in front.
And while Marko thinks that Norris’ track limits penalty could have played a part in the eventual collision, the Red Bull driver also got a penalty in the end.
Can Max Verstappen and Lando Norris’ friendship survive in 2024?
After the collision that resulted in Lando Norris’ retirement from the race, the stewards gave a 10-second penalty to Max Verstappen for causing a collision. While both drivers were unhappy about the on-track action while they were racing, the McLaren driver put all the blame on Verstappen for not racing fairly.
In the post-race interviews, Norris made it clear that it was the Dutchman who was moving too much in the braking zone and that was the reason for the collision. When asked if he would talk to his friend and rival about the incident, the 24-year-old said that he wouldn’t approach him unless Verstappen did it first.
Lando Norris and Max Verstappen might have just had their Hamilton/Rosberg moment today based off these post-race interview answers #AustrianGP pic.twitter.com/RO5dGXf4Qq
— Douglas Reyes-Ceron (@dreyesceron) June 30, 2024
On the contrary, the three-time champion was trying not to point a finger at anyone for the incident. He made it clear that he would need to review the footage to understand what went wrong before he could say anything with certainty. When asked about his friendship with Norris, Verstappen said that the two would soon sort things out.
