Norris and Verstappen reflect: “A lot of adrenaline, a lot of just emotions”

Max Verstappen and Lando Norris’ post-Austria debrief ended with both drivers agreeing to “race each other hard” in future battles, with the McLaren driver admitting to saying “some things I didn’t necessarily believe” in the heat of the moment. 

The word ‘respect’ and the subject of losing it were thrown around a lot in the wake of Verstappen and Norris’ run-in under braking in Austria.

At the time, Norris was adamant that he would not move past the incident without an apology from the Red Bull driver who was handed a 10-second penalty for causing the collision, however, upon reflection, his perspective in Silverstone has shifted. 

The two good friends spoke on Monday, working together to put the heated moment behind them.

“Honestly, I don’t think he needed to apologise,” Norris said.

“I think some of the things I said in the pen after the race were just more just because I was frustrated at the time. 

“A lot of adrenaline, a lot of just emotions, and I probably said some things I didn’t necessarily believe in, especially later on in the week. It was tough. 

“It was a pretty pathetic incident in terms of what ended both our races. It wasn’t like a hit, it wasn’t like an obvious bit of contact. 

“It was probably one of the smallest bits of contact you could have, but with a pretty terrible consequence for both of us, especially for myself. 

‘He didn’t doesn’t need to… I don’t expect an apology from him. I don’t think he should apologise. 

“I thought it was as a review, good racing. At times, maybe very close to the edge but like we said we’ve spoken about it we’ve talked about it and we’re both happy to go racing again.”

Verstappen echoed the McLaren driver’s thoughts on the racing aspect of the fight, deeming the 64 laps prior to the Turn 3 contact “a good battle”.

He also made it clear that despite the victory being his highest priority at that moment, his friendship with Norris was the first thing on his mind once he was out of the car.

Lando Norris locks up fighting wheel to wheel with Max Verstappen. Photo by Andy Hone / LAT Images

“To me, the only thing that I cared about is of course maintaining my relationship with Lando, because we are great friends,” Verstappen said.

“After the race, I said we have to just let things cool down because emotions run high. 

“We immediately spoke on Monday and I think we came to the conclusion that we actually really enjoyed our battle. 

“We were both of course… We looked at the incident and it was such a silly, little touch that had of course great consequences for both of us and naturally a bit more for Lando with how the puncture then evolved. But we like to race hard. 

“We’ve done this for many years, not only in F1, even in online racing when we have a lot of fun together. 

“These things have to carry on because that’s what we like to do, and I think it’s great for F1 as well.

“We agree with 99% of everything, so I think that’s a lot already.

“Naturally, I always said to Lando, when you go for moves up the inside, outside, you can trust me that I’m not there to try and crash you out of the way, same the other way around, because we spoke about that as well.

“There’s always a human reaction when someone dives up the inside or outside that you have a bit of a reaction to it, but I felt everything that I did was nothing massively over the top.

“Like how you design a car, you try to go to the edge of the rules, maybe you find some grey areas here and there as a car, and that’s the same how you race, otherwise you will never be a top driver and you will never succeed in life anyway.”

“Unfortunately, it was actually quite a silly little touch that we had that both gave us a puncture which then ruined the race,” Verstappen later said.

“So that was a shame, but we also said to each other we have to race each other hard because that’s what we like to do, both of us, and that’s what we’ll continue to do.”

Excited by the prospect of going wheel-to-wheel with Norris once again in Silverstone, Verstappen expects the battle to be “very close”, reminiscing on last year’s British Grand Prix which saw Lando Norris taking the lead of his home race, albeit momentarily.

“Last year here [McLaren] were flying, so they will be quick again.” 

FP1 kicks off at 9:30 PM tonight, with the battle between Red Bull and McLaren bolstered by the Milton-Keynes-based team’s floor and diffuser upgrades this weekend. 

Image: Simon Galloway / LAT Images

2024 British Grand Prix Schedule:

Friday July 5th:

FP1: 21:30 – 22:30

Saturday July 6th:

FP2: 01:00 – 02:00

FP3: 20:30 – 21:30

Sunday July 7th:

Qualifying: 00:00 – 01:00

Monday July 8th:

Race Start: 00:00