Ex-Ferrari Boss Gives Lando Norris Bitter Reality Check About Friendship in Racing in Wake of Max Verstappen’s Austrian GP Antics

The Austrian GP saw enough drama to threaten Max Verstappen and Lando Norris’ friendship. But the two racers have been close ever since their junior racing days. Max had even called Lando to his girlfriend’s daughter’s fifth birthday party last year. However, they are now engaged in a tough battle for the top place on the World Drivers’ Championship table. And last weekend at the Red Bull Ring, Max Verstappen caused a collision with Norris which resulted in the latter retiring from the race.

Soon after the contact between their cars, Lando Norris called Max’s driving ‘reckless’ and ‘desperate’. On the other hand, the Dutch lion did not even apologize for costing his friend precious World Championship points due to their collision. This has led to speculations that Norris and Verstappen’s friendship is hanging by the thread now. But in former Ferrari manager Peter Windsor’s words, there is no need to ‘read too much into the friendship thing’. The McLaren racer and the current World Champion are professionals who can handle a tussle on the racetrack and go back to being friends off of it.

At the Austrian GP, Lando Norris had tried to catch up to Max Verstappen throughout the 71-lap race. However, the climactic moment came during the 64th lap when their cars were almost nose-to-tail. But as Verstappen left very little space for Lando to move into, a contact occurred. Several onlookers think this incident will be the end of Lando and Max’s friendship. But Peter Windsor spoke on the CameronF1 channel about this, emphasizing, “They’re [Max and Lando] different sorts of people, but I don’t think we should read too much into that friendship thing.”

Windsor also pointed out the temperament a racer should have, saying, “If you don’t want to go out there and beat everybody as soundly as you possibly can, then you shouldn’t be a racing driver. According to the Briton’s words, the two F1 colleagues are not such friends that they would cut each other a slack instead of competing on the rack tracks. As of now, Max Verstappen is leading the F1 World Championship but Lando Norris is right after him. Thus, the Austrian GP is not the first instance where they have clashed as several other contacts between them might come in the future. But what did Windsor say about Verstappen’s mindset while maneuvering against Lando in Austria?

Peter Windsor believes Max Verstappen is ‘very good’ at flipping the friendship switch

In Austria, the Lando Norris had been almost at par in race pace with Max Verstappen. Thus, while defending against Norris, Verstappen left no stone unturned despite them being friends because he knows on the track, they are competitors. Speaking on this, Peter Windsor mentioned, “Max will be very very good at having relationships that go up to a certain point but then switching off because he knows these are the guys that he’s going to be racing against at the weekend.”

However, Max Verstappen’s valiant efforts to save his top position on the grid against Lando did not yield a race win. He had to drop to the fifth spot and even incurred a 10s time penalty from the FIA for causing a collision. But Peter Windsor addressed the onlookers who questioned how Verstappen could cause his friend Lando to retire from the race, remarking, “If anybody expects anything less then they don’t understand a good racing driver’s psyche.”

With eleven races having already taken place, the F1 2024 calendar still has 13 Grands Prix left. The current points gap between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris stands at 81 points. Next up, we have Norris’ home race in Silverstone where the Briton will enjoy huge support, and he might end up winning a second Grand Prix. Will the audience at Silverstone witness another showdown between Max and Lando next weekend? What do you think? Let us know in the comments below.