Alex Albon has claimed the reaction to the incident between Lando Norris and Max Verstappen in Formula 1’s Austrian Grand Prix has been “blown out of proportion”.
Norris and Verstappen were competing over the race lead with seven laps to go at the Red Bull Ring when the Dutchman squeezed the Briton on the run up to Turn 3.
Verstappen was handed a 10-second time penalty which proved inconsequential to his end result as he trailed home fifth, but Norris retired due to extensive damage.
McLaren boss Andrea Stella was incensed with the Dutchman’s moves and asserted that his uncompromising approach derived from previous unpunished collisions.
But Albon believes the ensuing media coverage has been excessive in relation to how minor the contact was and thinks Verstappen was unfortunate to be disciplined.
“It’s aggressive racing, but I think it’s blown out of proportion in my opinion,” Albon said.
“I think it was questionable, more the first move where Max moved under braking the first time.
“I don’t really think he moved under braking on that on the one where they made contact.
“I think that was more kind of heading more towards a straight line, just going more towards the left.
“I think the reality of it was just pure racing, hard racing.”
Albon, a long-time friend to Norris and an ex-team-mate to Verstappen, is convinced it will be inevitable the pair’s relationship will deteriorate the more battles happen.
“Well, I think they’re both going for the win so it’s going to be emotional,” he said. “And they’re in the moment, they’re fighting for victory.
“So I think it will play an impact to their relationship to some degree, especially as McLaren are gonna be fighting more and more for that victory.
“So I think you’re gonna get the same action this weekend and for the rest of the year.
“So it’s just natural when two drivers keep finding themselves in the same positions, first and second, then they’re gonna have more chances to bang wheels.”
Asked whether he was surprised that Norris battled as hard as he did versus Verstappen, Albon answered: “No, not at all.
“I don’t know any driver who would be in the chance to win a race, be Max or Lando, and kind of not put it on the line. We all are very similarly programmed.”
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