Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner was quick to defend star driver Max Verstappen after his crash with Lando Norris during the thrilling conclusion to the Austrian Grand Prix.
After a slow pit stop from the Red Bull crew and a mistake coming out of turn four on cold tyres, Max Verstappen was suddenly under serious pressure from Lando Norris despite controlling the race from a distance for the first 60 laps.
They briefly switched positions on several occasions before eventually clashing at the entrance to turn three.
It was only a small touch but enough to give both drivers punctures and force McLaren to retire their lead car, handing George Russell the win and Oscar Piastri and Carlos Sainz unexpected podium finishes.
After the race, Christian Horner provided his verdict on the incident and believed that Norris should have been more careful.
However, speaking on The Race Podcast, journalist Scott Mitchell-Malm noticed something interesting about his comments.
He believed that the Red Bull boss chose his words very carefully when asked about the crash and that he may actually believe Verstappen was more to blame than he let on.
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Christian Horner comments suggest Max Verstappen was more to blame for Lando Norris crash
Assessing the move and Christian Horner’s subsequent quotes, Mitchell-Malm said: “[Max] Verstappen on the final move that lead to the contact, Verstappen as shifting the blame onto [Lando] Norris a little bit and acting surprised that he appeared out of nowhere.
“There was a beautiful hypocrisy to how much Verstappen was complaining about Norris’s dive bombs and being a little bit out of control under braking and being unpredictable, I thought that was said sincerely as well, I thought that made it quite amusing.
“If you’re looking for one response that sums up who was in the wrong and what they got wrong, it was Christian Horner describing the third incident, the one that led to the contact, as a racing incident.
“And if Horner describes something that Verstappen’s involved in as a racing incident, you know he really thinks that Verstappen’s to blame because if he thinks it’s anything else, he’ll rampantly defend Verstappen.
“So, I think that tells you all you need to know.”
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Unsurprisingly, Horner is willing to defend Verstappen in these instances given their current reliance on the Dutch driver.
For the second time this season, when Verstappen was unable to challenge for victory during the final laps of the race, his teammate Sergio Perez was nowhere to be seen.
Red Bull also know that Mercedes want to sign Verstappen one day and keeping him happy is essential to hoping the Dutchman sees out his current contract.
On commentary at the end of the Grand Prix, Martin Brundle was left very concerned by the message Red Bull sent to Verstappen.
He believes they were enabling his behaviour on the track and it’s not the first time Verstappen has been involved in an incident like this.
It’s going to be very interesting to see what happens the next time Verstappen and Norris are racing wheel-to-wheel.
Given how quick McLaren’s car is now compared to Red Bull, it’s bound to happen sooner rather than later.
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