Verstappen – Norris collision: “He ruined my race, destroyed my car”, “the 10 second penalty seemed a little harsh to me”, everyone defends themselves

The two men collided a few laps from the finish. MAXPPP – MARTIN DIVISEK

"He ruined my race, destroyed my car" : the Briton Lando Norris (McLaren), forced to retire during the Austrian GP on Sunday June 30 after a collision with Max Verstappen (Red Bull), finally fifth, had harsh words towards the Dutch, who defended himself.

"I really respect Max and what he can accomplish (…)but there are times when I think maybe he's going a little too far and I feel like today that's the case. 39;is a bit the case", estimated the Briton.

"I expect a tough fight against Max. I expect aggression, pushing the limits, but all three times he did things that could easily cause an incident. And in a way it's a bit thoughtless (…) I was expecting a tough battle , fair and respectful, and I don't have the impression that that's what he offered me, he cursed.

Also read:VIDEO. F1: wheel to wheel, passing through grass… the Verstappen-Norris collision ruined the race for both drivers in Austria

Norris, who had long been several seconds behind Verstappen during the first two thirds of the race, had returned to the wheels of the three-time reigning world champion thanks to a stop at the mediocre Red Bull pits twenty laps from the finish. 

Something you don't want to happen.

The two men then engaged in a merciless duel for around ten minutes, until the unfortunate epilogue that occurred on the 64th of the 71 laps of the race: Norris attempted a overtaking from the outside and Verstappen shifted slightly, precipitating a collision between the two cars which resulted in a puncture for each of the protagonists.

"For me it wasn'a movement on braking, s'is justified Verstappen. I&#39 I saw it coming of course, so I defended the inside a little. And then while braking, we hit each other with the rear tires and we both got flats, which is obviously something you don't want to happen."

A severe sanction according to Verstappen

If the Dutchman, found responsible for the accident and who received an anecdotal penalty of ten seconds, was able to leave after changing tires, the Briton n&# 39;was unable to exit the pits because his front wing was also damaged.

"The 10 seconds seemed a little harsh to me because I didn't have the impression that' #39;there was something very aggressive about this movement. We can say that we are limiting the damage, of course, that is not what we want, I think, for both of us. We are both annoyed. Lando isn't the only one annoyed, I am too, he concluded.

Finishing fifth, "Mad Max", winner of the sprint on Saturday ahead of… Norris, scored 10 points which allowed him to widen the gap at the top of the championship on the McLaren driver, now relegated to 81 lengths.