One former driver believes Lando Norris can forget on receiving an apology from Max Verstappen.
Before Max Verstappen apologizes to Lando Norris for their Austrian Grand Prix crash, David Coulthard says ‘hell will freeze over’.
So far, Verstappen has displayed little remorse for the lap-64 incident that led in punctures on both cars, with the stewards imposing a 10-second penalty for initiating the collision and forcing Norris to withdraw his McLaren.
The penalty had no effect on Verstappen, who finished fifth after limping back to the pits and putting on a fresh set of tyres, allowing him to earn an extra point for recording the fastest lap.
Even after reflecting and studying the incidents between himself and Norris, the three-time F1 champion believed that what happened was merely “a bit clumsy” and that what came before it was “hard racing”.
Norris had hoped Verstappen would express regret so that he could keep his respect for his friend, but former F1 racer Coulthard has encouraged his fellow Briton to forget about it.
“Hell freezing over is the expression,” remarked Coulthard, in his punditry role on Channel 4, when asked about Verstappen’s possible apology.
“Max is going to say, ‘I was racing, it’s hard racing. This is Lando’s first time going wheel to wheel on a regular weekend basis.”We know how it worked when Lewis [Hamilton] faced Max in their memorable 2021 title battle. Max is one of the most challenging racers. To beat him, you must match him.”
Verstappen will claim ‘it was hard racing’.
Coulthard, a 13-time grand prix champion, had little doubt that Verstappen was at fault and deserved the penalty, even if it had no bearing on his final result.
By the conclusion of lap 51, Verstappen was 7.5 seconds ahead of Norris when they both pitted for fresh rubber – the Red Bull driver on used mediums, the McLaren driver on new.
Verstappen’s 6.5s pause proved expensive, allowing Norris to attack.
“Those new tyres that McLaren saved through qualifying allowed Lando to really close that gap, get the DRS, and go for a gap in Turn 3,” Verstappen remarked, reflecting on his initial attack on lap 55. “But it
Max had closed it off, which made Lando unhappy. He was saying, ‘He moved when I demonstrated I was coming up the inside’.
“The following time around [on lap 59], he sends it down the inside but gets off track; then, on lap 63, he pushes Max wide. Max claimed he had nowhere to go and remained in front.
Looking at the footage of the crash, Coulthard concluded: “Then this is where the troubles really begin, that contact as they enter the corner, and subsequent contact once they’d passed through the apex, both with punctures and damage. Avoidable incidents from both have cost them both.
Looking at an extra slow-motion of the occurrence, he added: “This is what Lando will complain about, right at the end, off the entry into the corner, with Max still coming over to the left. He will argue, ‘He squeezed me,’ and you are not authorized to do that when braking.”
When asked if the stewards got it right, Coulthard responded, “He’s obviously crowded Lando across the track. If there had been a barrier there, they would have ricocheted off of it.
“I absolutely understand that Max will say, ‘Well, wait a minute. He could have gone further over the curb.
“But the stewards have looked at it, they’ve got more information, they’ve given a penalty to Max, and ultimately it doesn’t make a difference to where he finished in the race.”
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