Pink Bull group boss Christian Horner says Lando Norris is now discovering simply how laborious its is to race Max Verstappen, which is partly why the 2 drivers got here to blows in final weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix.
After an exhilarating battle that lasted a number of laps, issues obtained heated at Flip 3 between the 2 drivers. Contact was made, leaving each contenders with punctured tyres and dashed hopes.
Verstappen managed to limp again for a P5 end after a pit cease, however Norris’ McLaren was too broken to proceed the race.
The aftermath was stuffed with stress. Norris and McLaren group boss, Andrea Stella, had been fuming over Verstappen’s aggressive defending.
They felt the Pink Bull driver repeatedly modified his line beneath braking, leaving Norris with nowhere to go earlier than the conflict.
Nonetheless, Horner labeled the McLaren camp’s criticism as “fallacious and unfair” and insisted Verstappen “will not change” his racing type, suggesting Norris is just getting a style of how the reigning champion operates.
“Definitely, from Max’s aspect, he is not going to vary,” Horner advised Sky F1.
“There’s a component, I feel, of Lando studying the way to race Max and so they’re discovering that.
“Inevitably, there’s going to be extra shut racing between the 2 of them because the automobiles look so shut over the forthcoming races.
“Max is a tough racer – he is in all probability one of many hardest racers on the circuit and everyone is aware of that if you are going to race in opposition to Max, he will give pretty much as good as he will get.”
Talking to the media after his run-in with Verstappen, Norris was visibly upset by his rival’s techniques, and prompt that his respect for the Dutchman would considerably reduce if no apology was forthcoming.
Nonetheless, Horner prompt that the 2 protagonists had cleared the air behind closed doorways within the wake of their on-track dispute.
“I perceive they’ve spoken already, I do not suppose there’s any situation,” he mentioned.
Talking to Sky F1 instantly after the race, Stella prompt that Verstappen’s aggressive techniques had been merely a legacy from the shortage of sanctions directed on the Pink Bull driver throughout his intense battle with Lewis Hamilton in 2021.
The McLaren F1 boss believes Verstappen wasn’t held accountable when pushing the boundaries, resulting in his present on-track habits.
However Horner took exception with Stella’s view, and famous that the tensions between Verstappen and Norris have been constructing prior to now few races.
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“He raced extremely laborious in 2021, he is a troublesome racer, and he hasn’t actually been racing anybody for 2 years as a result of he is been out entrance a lot,” Horner mentioned.
“The battle between the 2 of them has been constructing over two, three, 4 races the place they have been racing one another carefully and laborious, and in some unspecified time in the future that was at all times going to spill over – and it did at Flip 3.
“He was punished in 2021 if he did one thing fallacious simply as Lewis, who he was racing so laborious that 12 months, was for issues he did fallacious.
“I feel it is fallacious and unfair to label a driver like that and I am positive within the warmth of the second it was irritating for Andrea, however that is simply powerful racing.
“He labored with Michael Schumacher [at Ferrari] for therefore a few years – he of all individuals ought to know that.”
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