As Lando Norris continued to battle with Max Verstappen for the lead of the Austrian Grand Prix, it seemed like the inevitable was always going to happen.
Verstappen took an uncompromising approach to racing Norris despite being nearly 100 points ahead of him in the Drivers’ Championship and knowing he had a time penalty for track limits infringements.
It was as if he never learned from his mistakes while edging Lewis Hamilton to the title in 2021, something McLaren team principal Andrea Stella pointed out in the immediate aftermath of the race.
Stella is right to point out that the FIA stewards offered Verstappen too much lenience in the build-up to the crash. While the incident itself was not malicious from the Dutchman, it was his driving in the previous five laps that was the issue and arguably made Norris attempt an unconventional move around the outside of Turn 3.
The constant changing of his line while Norris attempted a move up the inside caught him out in the braking zones, on one occasion causing him to overshoot the corner and earn his track limits penalty. The question is whether Verstappen’s moves warranted any intervention from Race Control.
FIA stewards too lenient towards Max Verstappen
The FIA stewards have previously punished this type of manoeuvre, whereby any change under braking would be penalised if it resulted in a rival being forced to take avoiding action.
That was brought into effect in 2016 because of two high-profile incidents involving Verstappen where drivers claimed he changed his line the braking zones. The FIA issued a clarification of existing regulations under Article 27.5 of the F1 Sporting Regulations, which states “no car may be driven in a manner which could be potentially dangerous to other drivers” and Article 27.8 which prohibits any manoeuvre “liable to hinder other drivers” including “any abnormal change of direction’.”
Since then, only one driver has fallen foul of the rule: Sebastian Vettel during the 2016 Mexican Grand Prix when he collided with Daniel Ricciardo while entering a braking zone.
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Further clarifications over what the stewards look for in racing incidents were published by the FIA in 2022, following a spate of incidents involving Verstappen the previous year. This went into much greater detail about how a car must overtake on the inside and outside of a corner and how much room needs to be left by the defending car.
But throughout the two-page document there is no mention of moving under braking, instead defaulting back to article 20.5 which does not explicitly mention the moving under braking manoeuvre.
Verstappen has picked up a penalty for overtaking moves on previous occasions, but the 2021 season is the outlier Stella rightly referred to when the Dutchman went unpunished for moves that should have been dealt with by the stewards and have reappeared in his driving against Norris at Austria.
Part of it in 2021 was Race Control’s management and wanting to prioritise the ‘show’ element, but it came at the expense of actual racing. Now you had a cynical attempt from Verstappen to keep Norris behind, knowing he was likely going to lose the race on the worn tyres his team fitted after a disastrous pit stop, but zero warnings until the contact occurred.
Max Verstappen’s ruthlessness could tarnish reputation
Verstappen has always been an aggressive racer in F1, which is likely a legacy of him being rushed through the junior single-seater ladder without spending time honing in on his racecraft.
Team principal Christian Horner remarked that he was driving with more “maturity” after his 2021 title battle, but the reality is he has never really changed his approach and just adapted to the circumstances.
Red Bull’s advantage has been great enough the past two seasons for Verstappen to not race his rivals hard to earn victories, but through it all, there were shades of his unwavering approach to racing.
At the 2022 Azerbaijan Sprint race he collided with George Russell, leading to a post-race confrontation between the pair in Parc Ferme. Verstappen was under pressure as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc emerged as a title contender, but that ultimately fizzled out as Ferrari endured poor reliability and several strategic blunders.
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Later in the year during the Brazilian GP, his relationship with Sergio Perez erupted when he refused to help him earn second in the championship by ignoring a team order. Perez was left unimpressed by his teammates actions, referencing how he helped him in his title battle with Hamilton at Abu Dhabi.
It is these moments that will come back to tarnish what he is achieving with Red Bull at such a young age. Verstappen is a generational talent and history will do him well not to have any more asterisks beside his name on the record list.
As for Norris, he has already shown his willingness to take the fight to Verstappen. If there is no action, it is surely going to lead to the inevitable once again?
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