‘I think I know what to do’ – Verstappen issues strong defence of racing tactics against Lando Norris

Max Verstappen believes he was not moving under braking while defending against Lando Norris, before the pair collided in dramatic fashion at the Austrian Grand Prix.

The Red Bull and McLaren drivers were involved in a tense battle for the lead in the closing stages at the Red Bull Ring, before they tagged rear wheels at Turn 3 – giving both drivers a puncture and enabling Mercedes’ George Russell to come through for an unexpected victory.

Max Verstappen: ‘I think I know fairly well what to do in these kinds of scenarios’

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

Norris had voiced his frustration over team radio at what he believed the three-time World Champion to be moving under braking, reacting to the McLaren driver’s moves by blocking late himself – a breach of racing rules.

But Verstappen did not believe this was the case, explaining that Norris’ “really late divebombs” also did not leave him much time to react at times.

The Dutchman was able to pit and carry on racing, finishing fifth with his 10-second penalty, while Norris had to retire from the race.

“For me, it was not moving under braking, because every time that I moved, I was not braking already,” Verstappen told media including PlanetF1.com after the race.

More statistics to take in from the Austrian Grand Prix weekend

👉 F1 2024: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates

👉 2024 Austrian Grand Prix – race results and latest F1 standings (Spielberg)

“Of course, from the outside it always looks like that, but I think I know fairly well what to do in these kinds of scenarios.

“And also a few of those are really late divebombs, so it’s a bit of a, you know, just send it up the inside and just hope that the other guy steers out of it, which is not always how you race.

“But I think it’s just the corner here that that lends to that as well. I’ve been in the other position as well, where you go for it and it’s just the shape of the corner.

“I think the move that we got together was something that I didn’t expect, because I saw him coming, of course. So I defend a little the inside, and then under braking, we touch with the rear tyres, and we both get a puncture from it which, of course, is something that you don’t want to happen.”

Norris said after the chequered flag that he was “disappointed” by the collision between the two, and that Verstappen “ruined his race just as much as he ruined mine.”

With the two getting along well away from the circuit, Verstappen said they will talk through the incident and look to move past it – but once things have taken a moment to “cool down”.

“We’ll talk about it. Not now, it’s not, I think, the right time, but we’re racing drivers,” Verstappen added.

“Of course, Lando and I, we have a little age gap, that’s why we never really raced against each other in lower categories compared to some other drivers here, but yeah, we’ll move on from it.

“Of course you don’t want to crash into each other but when you are fighting for the lead and you know it’s always tough battles. It happened today, which is of course a shame. I’m annoyed, he’s annoyed, I think that’s fair. We’ll speak but it’s not the right moment now, better to cool down.”

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