Nailbiting would be an understatement to explain the intensity of the battle between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris at the Austrian GP. The two drivers were fighting for the win till the very last moment with many attempts from Norris to beat the race leader. Ultimately the two cars made contact that led Norris to retire from the race and Verstappen to finish P5.

The accident was ruled out as Verstappen’s fault, as he hit McLaren while trying to defend his position. As a punishment, a penalty of -10 seconds was given to Verstappen, which did not make a difference to him as he did not lose a position in the race. After the verdict was out, Andrea Stella insisted that he did not believe it was fair treatment as he brought up the times when Max Verstappen was fighting Lewis Hamilton.

McLaren is unhappy with the Austrian GP result

When Lando Norris and Max Verstappen collided, both their tires got punctured. However, neither of the drivers decided to stop. Verstappen continued to drive the car back into the pitlane, and so did Norris. Although the defending champion got into a new set of tires and completed the race at P5, Norris had to retire from the Grand Prix.

Coming in P5 gave Red Bull a few points, and on the other hand, Norris was left from P2 to retire from the race. This did not feel fair, as it was Verstappen’s fault that the two drivers collided. To voice his concerns, Stella stated, “The problem is that if you don’t address these things honestly, they will come back.”

He then drew parallels to the battles between Red Bull and Mercedes, where the current champions did not spare their rivals. “They have come back today because they were not addressed properly in the past, where there were fights with Lewis that needed to be punished in a harsher way,” Stella concluded.

Back when Lewis Hamilton was the world champion, Red Bull used to criticize every small mistake made by the 7x champion. This time, Red Bull is the champion and McLaren is chasing them. However, there are no further actions needed to be taken, according to the FIA.

Max Verstappen and Lando Norris are known to be friends, but the Austrian GP was not friendly, to say the least. Will this affect the relationship between the two drivers?

Will the battle at the Austrian GP affect the friendship between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris?

Both Max Verstappen and Lando Norris live in Monaco and have been competing with each other since their childhood days in Karting. Over the years, the two have faced each other in different stages of racing, and although Verstappen has been the winner more often, Norris has always looked to beat him.

Now that both drivers are in F1, Lando Norris was never a threat to Verstappen until this year. After the Miami Grand Prix, Norris showed that McLaren was not beating around the bush with their new upgrades.

The new package on the MCL38 has made the car the fastest on the circuits. This is how Norris has been able to target Verstappen for the last few races. Although the 24-year-old has not won a race since Miami, he has been right behind Verstappen.

Before this race, we had seen Max Verstappen composed on the race track; however, in Austria, we could see him break under pressure. He caused the collision with Norris, while McLaren had a chance to beat him in the race. Although Norris and Verstappen have been friends in the past, it’s hard to say how this incident will impact their relationship.

Do you think the two drivers will continue to be friends? Also, was the verdict for the collision a fair one? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.