In the aftermath of the crash with Max Verstappen, Lando Norris warned their friendship could take a hit if the Dutchman did not take responsibility for their collision. Verstappen paid no heed to the warning and continued to plead his innocence. The consequences of those actions have started to show now as Norris dropped his longtime friend from his celebratory list.
Norris launched an attack on Verstappen in the dying laps of the Austrian GP for the race lead. Running on a fresher set of medium compound tires, the McLaren driver caught up to the race leader in no time.
Verstappen vehemently defended his position successfully on several occasions. That was until they touched which led to Norris retiring from the race and Verstappen finishing P5.
The incident has continued to play on the Briton’s mind as was visible in one of his recent interviews. In a snippet posted on X, the interviewer asked him, “If you had to choose one other driver [apart from Oscar Piastri] to go out and celebrate with, who would it be?” Norris replied, “I probably would have said Max, but…”
“if you could choose one other driver to go out and celebrate with, who would it be?”
“i would have said max but…”
not him taking the beef to live radio?! pic.twitter.com/XCJ6ZnWJPC
— saff (@lovepiastri) July 3, 2024
The response left the interviewer and Norris’ McLaren teammate Piastri wide-eyed. Both let out a “Woah” in unison to the #4 driver’s comment. Ultimately, Norris picked Daniel Ricciardo to be his mate he’d celebrate his achievements with.
The Briton held a smile throughout his response. Therefore, it is hard to gauge if he was joking as he often does in his light-hearted interviews. Another reason why he could be joking is his recent interview (held before the Austrian GP), where he picked Verstappen as the driver he likes to party with.
Norris’ ultimatum to Verstappen
Given how Norris and Verstappen share a strong bond away from the F1 circuit, many wondered if their crash would cause a fallout. The suspicion did not land far from reality as Norris issued a strong response after the race.
He called for Verstappen to take the blame for their collision or he would lose respect for him. Verstappen, meanwhile, defended himself but kept his response rather measured. However, one could justify Norris’ response on the basis of where the two drivers finished in the race.
While the Briton had to retire, the Dutchman went on to salvage 10 points by virtue of his P5 finish. Moreover, the 10-second time penalty had no impact on Verstappen as he was far clear of Nico Hulkenberg in P6.
