Norris ‘could have got points’ instead of retiring after Verstappen collision · RaceFans

Lando Norris suspects he could have salvaged a points finish after colliding with Max Verstappen in yesterday’s Austrian Grand Prix.

The McLaren driver retired from the race in the pits after the pair collided at turn three on the 64th lap of 71. However while Norris subsequently retired, Verstappen was able to rejoin the race and finish fifth.

Afterwards Norris admitted he could have lessened the damage to his car by driving back more slowly. “There’s a lot of damage on the car,” he told the official F1 channel.

“The car’s completely destroyed now, so, it’s a shame. You want to keep driving and if I got back to the pits in a better way, I could have gone out and got some points, but the car was too badly broken.”

The two drivers sustained rear tyre punctures in the collision at turn three – Verstappen on the left-hand side of his car, Norris the right. He immediately told the team the car was too damaged to continue, but his race engineer replied it was “just a puncture”.

Norris passed Verstappen’s damaged car at turn four, then the Red Bull driver re-passed him at turn eight. As he arrived in the pits Norris told the team they should retire the car, and although the crew initially tried to repair it, they soon abandoned their efforts to get him back in the race.

The McLaren driver was pleased with his efforts in the race prior to the collision. “I feel like I drove a good race,” he said. “I kept myself in the fight the whole time.

“It was very difficult on-track, easy to make mistakes, difficult to drive because of the wind and conditions and things like that.”

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

Norris’ radio after his collision with Verstappen

Verstappen’s radio after his collision with Norris