Will F1 finally see a rivalry as legendary as Lewis Hamilton-Nico Rosberg in this current season? Just like the 7-time World Champion and his childhood friend-turned-rival, Lando Norris and Max Verstappen have been close to each other since their junior racing days. However, as McLaren has become competent in the recent Grands Prix, Norris has jumped up the ranks and is Verstappen’s main rival. At the Austrian GP, the two had a clash which had detrimental effects on both their results. And now, Lando Norris has revealed what remains of their friendship after the race at the Red Bull Ring.

Lando Norris had almost matched Max Verstappen’s lap times during Quali in Austria. Then, on Sunday, polesitter Max had gotten off to a great start. However, the Dutch lion’s troubles started when Red Bull made a slow pitstop. Norris grabbed the opportunity and tried to overtake the reigning World Champion during the latter part of the race. In lap 64, their cars came nose-to-tail and Max used a final maneuver to defend against the charging McLaren driver.

Unfortunately, Max’s move led to a contact between his RB20 and Lando’s MCL38. This led to heavy damage to the McLaren car and Norris had to retire. Verstappen lost his lead too and dropped to fifth on the grid. The FIA stewards noted the incident and penalized the Dutchman for causing a collision. Lando Norris later came on the post-race press conference to blast his Red Bull rival’s ‘desperate’ techniques. All of this resulted in speculations that the Austrian GP events have threatened the friendship that Lando Norris shares with Max Verstappen.

Getting candid about his dynamics with Verstappen, Lando Norris spoke on ‘Beyond the Grid’, “I’m going to say yes [that Max and Lando’s relationship will change due to Championship fight] because normally when you’ve seen teammates and [other] people have these rivalries, it often doesn’t end well. But I think what we have is just respect for one another and I feel like people sometimes make it sound too friendly. We don’t call each other every day or text each other every day. We just have a lot of respect for one another, as simple as that.” Speaking of respect for Verstappen, what scathing comment did Lando make in the wake of their Austrian GP clash?

Lando Norris labels the situation where he will ‘lose respect’ for Verstappen

Lando Norris and Max Verstappen‘s contact at the Red Bull Ring opened the ground for a lot of controversies. While the papaya army fans claimed he was not at fault, the Red Bull followers said otherwise. However, the FIA stewards in charge of the Austrian GP punished Verstappen since they ruled he had caused the collision. The Dutchman landed a 10s time penalty which is the maximum he could have gotten. However, he did not apologize for the incident even once despite knowing it led to Lando’s retirement from the race.

Speaking at an interview after the race, Lando Norris talked about what Verstappen could do to lose his respect. He said, “It depends on what he says. If he says he did nothing wrong, then I lose a lot of respect for that.” Till now, the reigning World Champion has not shared an apology. Even on his Instagram, he shared a carousel post with pictures from his Austrian GP outing but in the caption, there was no mention that he is sorry for costing Norris several points at the Red Bull Ring.

Keeping whatever happened in Austria behind, the F1 circus will travel to Britain next week for Lando’s home race. The McLaren racer will surely seek revenge for the clash with Max Verstappen. If he does not get a good position at Silverstone, the 24-year-old might even lose his #2 spot in the World Championship to Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Do you think Lando Norris can bounce back from the tragedy of the Austrian GP to score high in Britain? Share your opinions in the comments below.