It was only a matter of time until McLaren’s Lando Norris and Red Bull star Max Verstappen got too close for comfort on track.
The Austrian Grand Prix is the shortest lap on the calendar and one poor pit stop from the Dutch driver’s team was all Lando Norris needed to close the gap and have a go at earning the second victory of his career.
As Max Verstappen has shown throughout his Formula 1 career, he’s never keen to let a place go without a fight.
However, on this occasion, Norris and Verstappen both ended up with their races being ruined after colliding heading into the first hairpin on the track, picking up punctures in the process.
Commentating on the race for Sky Sports F1, Martin Brundle gave his verdict on who was at fault for their crash.
Neither driver came away from the battle in a strong position, with Norris forced to retire due to the damage caused and Verstappen only able to recover to 5 place.
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Martin Brundle gives his verdict on Max Verstappen’s crash with Lando Norris at the Austrian Grand Prix
Watching a replay of the incident, Brundle said: “Let’s see this again, so Max [Verstappen] went to the middle and then veered a little bit towards the outside, six of one and half a dozen of another.
“Max, probably squeezed him a little bit, so then he was not going to let him through was he?
“Max is just watching that McLaren and Lando [Norris] saw the damage.
“So, here we go, Lando goes up the outside, that’s fair enough, but actually you know what? Max veered left towards him, didn’t he?
“We’ll see it from a different angle, yeah that’s Max squeezing him out, I think Max will have to take the pain for that one in my view.”
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Max Verstappen’s aggression catches him out as McLaren continue to close the gap
After the race, Brundle commented that “it was Max [Verstappen] reverting to early years Max, just getting the razor blades on his elbows into the braking zones.”
Formula 1 fans haven’t seen Verstappen have to drive like this for some time considering the dominance of the Red Bull in 2022 and 2023.
However, McLaren have very much closed the gap to Red Bull now and are miles ahead of Sergio Perez who once again looked nowhere near his teammate.
If McLaren had a stronger start to the season, then Norris would be a formidable title challenger for Verstappen.
The penalty dished out to the Dutchman meant very little given the gap to Nico Hulkenberg behind him and arguably didn’t punish him enough for ending the race of his closest rival.
He may argue that Norris attempted several overtakes before the point that either forced him off the track or saw him use the run-off areas.
However, Verstappen was also moving in the braking zones and while his overtaking technique is flawless, Norris and others will be questioning whether his defensive technique could do with some work.
The post ‘My view’: Martin Brundle on who was at fault for Max Verstappen’s crash with Lando Norris at the Austrian GP appeared first on F1 Oversteer.
