McLaren boss Andrea Stella has assessed Max Verstappen’s “values” will be shown in how he reacts to the clash with Lando Norris in Formula 1’s Austrian Grand Prix.
Verstappen and Norris collided while battling over the lead with seven laps to go at the Red Bull Ring when the Red Bull moved across his rival under braking at Turn 3.
Norris was incensed with the incident that sent him into retirement and branded what he perceived as the Dutchman to have been moving under braking as “reckless”.
Speaking post-race, the Briton also claimed that he would “lose respect” towards Verstappen should he avoid taking the blame over the incident he was penalised for.
When asked whether he would sound Verstappen out over a chat to clear the air on the contact, Norris replied: “It’s not for me to say, it’s for him to say.
“I’m trying to drive a good, fair race. It’s just not what I got in return from his side.
“I feel like what he did was unfair from my side three of the times. No warning was issued. He did it again the final time and ruined both our races, so that’s it.”
Norris, who was stood next to Verstappen in the media pen, then added to Sky Sports F1: “If he says he did nothing wrong, then I’ll lose a lot of respect for that.”
Verstappen and the Red Bull camp insisted that the 10-second penalty he received, which proved inconsequential to his result as he trailed home in fifth, was “harsh”.
However, Stella argued it was clear who should be held responsible and proclaimed that Verstappen’s uncompromising approach derived from unpunished incidents.
The Italian, whose side still took second through Oscar Piastri, believes that Verstappen holding his hands up and apologising to Norris would gain him more respect.
Asked whether this would impact the friendship between Norris and Verstappen, Stella responded: “Well, I hope that’s not going to be the case.
“Obviously when there’s a rivalry in professional sport, at the pinnacle of sport, under the pressure that these guys experience, it’s always going to be a bit on the edge in terms of the implications for the human relationships.
“But if the drivers were able to show respect, and if the drivers were able to show integrity, and if the drivers were able to say ‘Apologies, I overcooked it, I closed too much, I collided, my apologies’, I think the human relationship can continue.
“And actually you will gain, if anything, even more respect, because you can see he’s a tough contender but at the same time he can be somebody who can apologize.
“I think it won’t necessarily be dependent on the outcome of the incident, but it will be more dependent on the values that you deploy before, during, and after throughout their experience as a driver. So I don’t think this is compromised, but I think this is a case where somebody will have to apologize.”
It would be quite surprising if MV started to show any ethics or integrity. His approach has always been “me first. And second. And third…. As no driver had attempted to overtake him since 2021, we might have forgotten his inability to concede to his own weaknesses.
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