Max Verstappen looks on with Lando Norris at the background. Image courtesy: Getty
McLaren surprised fans and experts alike when they uploaded a video on Max Verstappen-Lando Norris’ on-track ordeal. The British team, through their official social media handle, uploaded a video that scrutinized Verstappen’s move on Norris, and left fans pondered.
The recently concluded Austrian Grand Prix saw George Russell pick up a surprising victory after race leader Verstappen and P2 Norris tangled with each other during the race. As a result, both of the drivers were out of the podium contention, as Oscar Piastri and Carlos Sainz completed the podium places.
While the F1 world might have moved on from the incident, the McLaren F1 team on X posted the Sky Sports F1’s analysis clip on Verstappen and Norris two days after the incident.
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“Thorough analysis from former F1 test driver and expert pundit Anthony Davidson on not just Lando and Max’s incident, but ones that have gone before. #AustrianGP”
The on-track tussle and tangle resulted in a heavy loss for the British team. Even though Piastri improved from P4 to P2, Norris’ DNF meant they lost 12 points at the Red Bull Ring.
While fans seemed to have understood the point behind such a move by McLaren, they were still baffled by it. Below are some of the reactions:
“Official team account? This is tragic,” a fan wrote.
“Official accounts adding oil to the fire. PEAK F1 IS BACK,” another added.
“This is so embarrassing from an official account,” a third one claimed.
“This is literally embarrassing af even Merc and RB weren’t like this after Silverstone 2021, any other driver and this doesn’t happen,” a fan wrote, pointing towards the 2021 British GP incident.
“This is embarrassing,” another fan claimed.
Renowned F1 experts on Max Verstappen-Lando Norris skirmish
Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (1) Oracle Red Bull Racing RB20 leads Lando Norris of Great Britain driving the (4) McLaren MCL38 Mercedes during the F1 Grand Prix of Austria at Red Bull Ring on June 30, 2024 in Spielberg, Austria. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)
Former Ferrari boss, Peter Windsor shared his thoughts on the Max Verstappen-Lando Norris wheel-to-wheel battle. While he did not directly blame a driver, he felt the FIA had a role to play in it.
“If that decision had been published, obviously given out during the course of the race, Max Verstappen would have won the Austrian Grand Prix. Because he would have just let Lando past with his five-second penalty, and followed in the DRS and finished a few seconds behind him and won the race.” [at 4:26]
Damon Hill, interestingly, had supportive views of Andrea Stella. Stella, in his post-race interview earlier, said that they had immense respect for Red Bull and Max Verstappen, and they did not need to pull off such risky moves.
