Red Bull’s Christian Horner thinks Lando Norris’ “hangover” from his Sprint loss inspired his “inevitable” clash with Max Verstappen in Formula 1’s Austrian Grand Prix.
Verstappen was cruising towards another win at the Red Bull Ring when a slow pit stop gave Norris the impetus to reel in the Dutchman and a fight at the top ensued.
Norris failed with multiple overtaking moves until he came to blows with Verstappen when the latter squeezed his rival to the outside extremities approaching Turn 3.
Both drivers incurred punctures which ruined their chances of winning the race, with the damage to Norris’ McLaren proving too severe for him to complete the event.
Horner concurs with Verstappen’s view that the subsequent 10-second penalty was harsh and believes that the collision should’ve been regarded as a racing incident.
“I think it’s inevitable they were, how close they’ve been racing the last few weeks,” Horner reviewed. “It’s a shame.
“Lando was already on four strikes [with track limits]. I think he was probably going to get a five-second penalty anyway. And I would say it was a racing incident.
“I thought it was a bit harsh that Max got a 10-second penalty. Thankfully it didn’t affect [him], his race had already been damaged by the puncture that he picked up.
“So very frustrating.
“On a day that neither of his main opponents scored, we still took home 10 points in the Drivers, 16 in the Constructors; I think McLaren only gained two points on us.”
Horner reckons that Norris’ more aggressive approach in the main race emanated from the Briton’s frustration at letting a win slip in the Sprint earlier in the weekend.
Norris matched Verstappen during the opening laps in the round’s truncated encounter and got through into Turn 3, but he allowed his rival the inside line into Turn 4.
“It’s probably a bit of a hangover from yesterday,” Horner explained.
“Max passed him without DRS into Turn 4. And then he got mugged by his teammate, so there was probably a little bit of a hangover of that.
“It was a shame, because we had everything under control today.
“I think the final pit stop put Lando back into contention, and then with the advantage on tire that he had, that was enough to get him into the DRS.”
Norris branded Verstappen’s perceived moving under braking across their battle as “reckless” and “desperate”, but Horner has denied his driver overstepped the mark.
“I think Max is a hard racer, and they know that,” Horner highlighted. “I think Lando was trying to make up for yesterday.
“It was inevitable that you could see this building perhaps for a couple of races. At some point, there was going to be something close between the two of them.”
Horner is convinced that Verstappen and Norris’ well-established friendship won’t deteriorate over the collision and suspects that a sit down will smooth things over.
“Maybe they won’t play padel tomorrow, but I’m sure they’ll talk about it,” he said. “They’re two hard racers, they’ll talk about things openly, I’ve got no doubt about that.
Asked whether drivers can be friends when competing right at the pinnacle, he added: “Relationships between drivers vary up and down the grid.
“Ultimately there’s a respect, that’s the most important thing. Inevitably friendships are put under pressure when you’re competing hard.”
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