McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said Max Verstappen’s aggressive driving against Lando Norris during the Austrian Grand Prix resulted in the Dutchman not being penalized for similar driving to Lewis Hamilton in 2021.
Verstappen tried to hold off Norris for the lead at the Red Bull Ring on Sunday when the pair made contact with eight laps to go, leaving McLaren with late-race damage and the world champion finishing fifth after a puncture.
The stewards issued Verstappen with a 10-second penalty for causing the collision, after deciding that he had not left enough room on Norris on the outside of Turn 3.
“I see that the entire population of the world will know who is responsible except for a group of people,” Stella said Sky Sports F1.
“But the problem behind him is that if you don’t deal with it honestly, he will come back. He has come back today because he didn’t handle it properly when there were some fights with Lewis that should have been punished. The tougher way.
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Red Bull team principal Christian Horner believes Lando Norris was given enough space to avoid crashing into Max Verstappen, while McLaren boss Andrea Stella believes the Red Bull driver was at fault for the incident.
“You now learn to race in a certain way, which can be considered fair and square.”
Verstappen made some controversial moves during his intense 2021 title battle with Hamilton, with contact between the pair at Imola, Silverstone, Monza and Jeddah, while the Briton was forced to take action to avoid another collision in Brazil.
Asked by Sky Sports F1’s Ted Kravitz whether he was referring to the incident in Brazil 2021 between Verstappen and Hamilton, Stella replied: “Yes, there are many episodes.
“The fact is that we respect Red Bull, we respect Max – there’s no need to do this. This is a way to almost compromise your reputation. Why would you do it?”
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Anthony Davidson was on SkyPad to give the verdict on whether Max Verstappen or Lando Norris were at fault for the crash, which saw both sides give up their chance to win.
With Verstappen finishing fifth and Norris unable to score points, the first world champion’s lead against the latter at the top of the standings has increased to 81 points.
Verstappen is not the first in the sport to come under scrutiny for his driving style, with seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher also having been criticized for high-profile crashes throughout his career.
Asked if Verstappen’s style as a hard driver should be accepted, Stella replied: “I think the stewards found that Max was to blame completely in this episode. regulations.
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McLaren driver Lando Norris was furious after a collision with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen forced him to retire from the Austrian Grand Prix.
“And the regulation must be implemented in an effective way, because when the car is out of the race as a result of this accident, the penalty must be proportionate to the result.
“And we have been twice before the episode moving on the brakes. So I’m just proof that we have to implement a way to go racing because we want to have fun, we want to be happy.”
‘No correlation’ – Wolff defends Verstappen
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff disagreed with Stella’s assessment of Verstappen’s driving, arguing that “it takes two to tango”.
Wolff has been critical of Verstappen’s driving on numerous occasions during the 2021 season, but the Mercedes boss has struck a new chord with the Dutchman as he tries to oust him from Red Bull.
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Highlights of the Austrian Grand Prix from the Red Bull Ring
“I don’t think you can draw this conclusion,” Wolff said in his post-race press conference.
“It’s been a long time, by the way, from our side. We just have to … we’re in a different place today, and I think of him. And it takes two to tango.
“I’ve never seen the race, to be honest. I haven’t seen Lando and Max’s race. I haven’t seen how it happened. So I’ll have to watch it first before giving an opinion, but I don’t see it as a big consequence of 2021 not being well managed, what which happens in 2024.
“I don’t think there’s any correlation.”
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