'You Can Trust Me': Verstappen Reveals What He Told Norris To Ease Tension After Austria
F1
Max Verstappen revealed how his talk with Lando Norris went following the collision from the Austrian Grand Prix that put the McLaren driver out of the race.
Max Verstappen and Lando Norris were known to be great friends for a long time. The two didn't race each other for a long time as they didn't tend to have equally matched cars.
However, as McLaren made a huge step forward in 2023 and 2024, it was clear this friendship might get tested, and it did after the 11th round of the 2024 season in Austria.
The 24-year-old initially fully blamed Verstappen, calling the Dutchman "aggressive" and "desperate" while saying he wanted an apology.
The triple World Champion, on the other hand, was much calmer and suggested he would wait for things to calm down before he talked to his friend from McLaren. Speaking to the media in Great Britain the following week, he said:
"I was saying Lando, ‘When you go for moves up the inside, the outside, you can trust me that I’m not there to try and crash you out of the way.’... same the other way round because we spoke about that as well."
"After the race, I said 'We have to just let things cool down because emotions run high', and we immediately spoke on Monday."
Apparently, after carefully reviewing the incident, Verstappen and Norris both agreed on almost everything and talked things through.
"Lando and I are good friends, and we spoke about it. So first, everything is clear, and that's the most important."
"We agree with 99% of everything. That's, I think, a lot already. Naturally, I always said to Lando that when you go for moves up the inside, the outside, you can trust me that I'm not there to try to crash you out of the way."
The McLaren driver participated in the FIA press conference on Thursday ahead of the British Grand Prix, where he retracted his previous statements and suggested he didn't need any sort of apology from the Dutchman for the battle they ultimately both enjoyed. Verstappen continued:
"I think we came to the conclusion that we actually really enjoyed our battle. But we looked at the incident… it was such a silly little touch that had, of course, great consequences for both of us and, naturally, a bit more for Lando with how the puncture unfolds. But we like to race hard."
The triple World Champion was then asked if his approach to racing his 24-year-old friend from McLaren would change, to which he added:
"We'll go at it flat out. That's what we agreed to because that's what we like to do, and that's what's good for Formula One as well."
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