04/07/2024
NEWS STORY
Daniel Ricciardo and Alex Albon among drivers defending Max Verstappen over Red Bull Ring clash with Lando Norris.
While the media was quick to adjudge blame, fellow drivers are not willing to jump on the bandwagon, as they claims last weekend's clash has been bowl out of proportion.
Of course, as we said at the time, after two seasons of domination by the Dutchman and his team, he finally appears to have a fight on his hands, and with a little bit of controversial 'needle' thrown in, not to mention it being a "Brit", the media and broadcasters are having a field day looking to ramp up the hostilities.
"I'm assuming they've probably blown it up because it's obviously a battle for the lead and 'once friends, now enemies', it's probably that going on, I can only imagine," said Daniel Ricciardo, a former teammate to both drivers.
"It was hard," he admitted, "but you're also fighting for a win. So you're not going to just wave someone by.
"I think the contact, that can happen probably nine times out of ten with no consequence," he continued. "They'd been going at it back and forth, and maybe the angle was a bit awkward when they both entered, and obviously it ended Lando's race. But I think the outcome was bigger than probably what was actually happening on track.
"From what I saw, at least nothing seemed over the top," he insisted. "Was it pushing the edge? Probably. But was anything dangerous or reckless? At least from what I've seen, no."
"It's aggressive racing, but I think it's blown out of proportion in my opinion," said Alex Albon. "I think it was questionable, more the first move where Max moved under braking the first time. I don't really think he moved under braking on that on the one where they made contact. I think that was more kind of heading more towards a straight line, just going more towards the left. I think the reality of it was just pure racing, hard racing.
"They're both going for the win so it's going to be emotional," said the Williams driver, a long-time friend of Norris. "They're in the moment, they're fighting for victory," he added.
"I think it will play an impact to their relationship to some degree," he admitted, "especially as McLaren are going to be fighting more and more for that victory. So I think you're gonna get the same action this weekend and for the rest of the year.
"It's just natural that when two drivers keep finding themselves in the same positions, first and second, they're going to have more chances to bang wheels."
Asked if he was surprised that Norris pushed so hard, the Anglo-Thai driver was in no doubt: "No, not at all," he said. "I don't know any driver who would be in the chance to win a race, be it Max or Lando, and kind of not put it on the line. We all are very similarly programmed."
"No one in this sport wants to be the one that gets bullied," said Ricciardo. "You want to stand your ground against everyone and obviously it's your reputation as well. When people come up to you on track, you don't want them to think, oh, this guy's going to be an easy one for me. So, you always want to have your elbows out to an extent.
"We know Max from day one has always had his out and, and I think just naturally it is his DNA, he is just is a tough racer. It's not something he has to really dig deep for. It's just that's just how he races. It's kind of unconditional with him that you're going to get a tough battle.
"It doesn't necessarily change the way you race him," he added. "You just know that you're going to have to pull off a really good move and make sure you make it stick.
"I think Lando learned that on Saturday," he continued, referring to their battle in the Sprint. "I think he thought he probably had it done and Max said, 'no, not today'. It's like you live and you learn."
Minded of Andrea Stella's claim that Verstappen's actions were the result of the sport's powers that be being too easy on him, the Australian echoed Albon's claim.
"It sounds like people are probably hammering Max a bit and it sounds like it's probably blowing a little bit out of proportion," he said. "He's unchanged, but I think that's the way he goes racing. Obviously he leaves it all out on the track and it's also what a lot of fans have admired about him.
"Do I think he matured since the start of his career? Absolutely. So, yeah, it's not like he's finding himself in these positions all the time.
"I don't think it needs any real addressing at the moment," he added. "Maybe tomorrow's drivers' briefing. I'll hear otherwise, but I don't think the incident they had was dangerous. It was fairly low speed and it wasn't like obviously a Turn 9 situation here at Copse like in '21. That obviously had a lot bigger consequence.
"But if this goes on the next few races then it's like, 'oh wow'. But I'm not sure if one race is enough to create a narrative of 'oh, nothing's changed'."