Max Verstappen said he and Lando Norris have cleared the air after their collision in last weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix.
Norris said he would “lose respect” for Verstappen if he did not accept responsibility for the clash between the pair of them while leading the race. However the pair have spoken twice since the last race and Norris softened his stance when he spoke to media at Silverstone, saying he’d “overreacted”.
“Lando and I are good friends and we spoke about it,” Verstappen told media including RaceFans. “So first everything is clear and that’s the most important.”
During the race Verstappen accused Norris of “dive-bombing” him and the McLaren driver claimed his rival was moving illegally in the braking zones. However they largely reconciled their views when they spoke afterwards, according to Verstappen.
“We agree with 99% of everything,” he said. “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.
“Same the other way around, because we spoke about that as well. Naturally, there’s always a human reaction when someone dives on the inside or outside, that you have a bit of a reaction to it.
“I felt everything that I did was nothing massively over the top. Of course, like how we design a car, you try to go to the edge of the rules. Maybe you find some grey areas here and there, as a car, and that’s the same how you race. Otherwise, you will never be a top driver, you will never succeed in life.”
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Verstappen also believes Norris’ perspective on the incident was motivated partly by his eagerness to score his second grand prix in six rounds.
“It depends on your personalities. I know, of course, that he’s a great guy, he’s a really nice person who loves Formula 1, of course he loves racing. And he’s very passionate about it naturally also after the race.
“You also have to realise that he’s fighting for a second potential win, I’m fighting for my 62nd, I think naturally your emotions are a little bit different. I know that for myself when I was fighting for these first wins in F1. But that’s fine, that’s why I also said, let’s just let it cool off a bit and we’ll talk tomorrow.”
When the pair spoke the day after the race “we came to the conclusion that we actually really enjoyed our…
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