Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has backed Max Verstappen and insisted that he will not change in the aftermath of his clash with Lando Norris at the Austrian Grand Prix.
Verstappen was found at fault by the stewards for causing a collision with Norris while they fought for the lead of the race, resulting in both having to pit and handing the win to George Russell.
The Dutchman eventually finished fifth in Austria but fresh questions were raised over the standards of his driving, with McLaren team principal Andrea Stella criticising his defensive maneuvers and previous conduct.
Damon Hill agreed that the penalty was correctly handed to Verstappen, while Helmut Marko believes the incident could have been avoided if they had informed their driver of Norris’ time penalty for track limits.
Horner refuted the claims made about Verstappen when speaking to Sky Sports, and believes Norris should learn to race the Dutchman as it is likely they will have more close moments on track.
Christian Horner says ‘no issue’ between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris
The relationship between Norris and Verstappen has been put under the spotlight considering their friendship off the track, with Horner weighing in on whether it will affect them going forward.
“I don’t think there is any issue between them [Norris and Verstappen], certainly from Max’s side. He’s not going to change, he’s a tough racer,” said Horner.
“If you race Max Verstappen and there is an element of Lando learning how to race Max and I think they’re just discovering that and inevitably there is going to be more close racing between the two of them as the cars look so close.”
Lando Norris and Max Verstappen fued reignites F1
Verstappen has enjoyed an unchallenged run to victories in the last 12 months and now he is finally being caught up, after significant gains were made by McLaren with their car upgrades.
It is an important moment for F1 as popularity started to wain due to predictable results, with the British Grand Prix organisers apportioning some of the blame for their low ticket prices this year on Verstappen’s run of wins.
It gives fans something to look forward to as Norris could potentially emerge as a title contender at the end of F1’s longest season to date, having reached the halfway mark 81 points away from Verstappen in the Drivers’ Championship.
As one of the three British drivers on the grid, he will have a lot of support at Silverstone and could join the list of British drivers to have won on home soil.
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