(Silverstone) The growing rivalry between Britain’s Lando Norris and Dutchman Max Verstappen will move to Silverstone for the Formula 1 British Grand Prix, this time with the home crowd backing local favourite Norris.
Sunday’s race follows the Austrian Grand Prix, home race of Vertsappen’s Red Bull team, where the pair collided on track, ending their hopes of victory as Norris sought to secure a second podium finish.
Norris, who won the Miami Grand Prix earlier this year, was forced to retire. He was disappointed with Verstappen, saying the latter had impeded him by changing line under braking. However, the two friends have spoken twice since to clarify matters.
PHOTO LUCA BRUNO, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Lando Norris
“I don’t think he should apologize,” Norris said Thursday. “It was a good race, very close at times, but we talked about it and we’re both happy to be back on track. Some of the things I said to the media after the race were more because I was frustrated at the time. A lot of adrenaline, a lot of emotion.”
Verstappen’s main concern was to protect their friendship.
“He’s a great guy. Of course he loves racing, he’s very passionate,” Verstappen said. “You also have to realise that he was fighting for his second win and I was fighting for my 62nd.”e. Naturally, your emotions are a little different.”
Verstappen also has 106 podiums to Norris’ 19 and 40 pole positions to the McLaren driver’s two.
Verstappen felt Norris may have panicked a little.
PHOTO BENJAMIN CREMEL, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Max Verstappen
I always told Lando, when you try to maneuver inside or outside, you can trust me, I’m not here to try to torpedo you. I feel like what I did was nothing out of the ordinary.
Max Verstappen
Another incident at Silverstone could change the situation and bring back some memories.
At the 2021 British Grand Prix, Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton collided violently on the first lap at the high-speed Copse corner. Verstappen went to hospital for checks and Hamilton won.
That sparked a bitter row that lasted until the final lap of the last race in Abu Dhabi, where Verstappen overtook Hamilton after a controversial restart to claim his first title and deny Hamilton an eighth, which would have set a new record.
While some have seen parallels between the two incidents, Verstappen is the subject of unfair criticism, according to his former Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo.
“People are probably picking on Verstappen,” said Ricciardo, who now drives for RB.
According to him, Verstappen is a driver who “joins” and is “tough” to impose himself on track. Ricciardo knows this since they were teammates from 2016 to 2018. In their last year together, they collided in Azerbaijan, both being excluded from the top 10.
Ricciardo said the recent incident at the Red Bull Ring, where Verstappen recovered from a puncture to finish fifth and extend his championship lead over Norris to 81 points, had been blown out of proportion.
“It was tough, but it was a fight for the win. So you’re not just going to wave someone through,” he said. “The outcome was more serious than what was actually happening on the track. Was he pushing the limits? Probably. But was it dangerous or reckless? From what I saw, no.”
Mercedes driver George Russell, who took advantage of the incident to win, seemed to agree.
“Max is one of the best and he’s tough on the track,” Russell said. “He’s going to push the rules to the limit, like all the best drivers do.”
British fans could be in for a treat with three British drivers – Norris, Russell and Hamilton – potentially in contention for victory.
Hopes are rekindled, in a season where five different drivers have won in 11 races, after just three in 22 events in 2023. Verstappen has won 19 alone.
Verstappen has seven wins this year. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr. have both triumphed once, as have Norris and Russell.