LANDO NORRIS MAKES MAX VERSTAPPEN FEELINGS CLEAR AFTER UNUSUAL U-TURN ON TRAVEL PLANS

Lando Norris has shunned his traditional plane ride with Max Verstappen as their feud following the crash at the Austria Grand Prix escalated.

The duo clashed with seven laps to go during Sunday's race as Norris attempted to pass round the outside of leader Verstappen at Turn 3. But the Red Bull star moved left to defend his position, making contact with Norris' McLaren.

The contact left both cars with rear-wheel punctures, putting Norris out of the race and sending Verstappen plummetting down to fifth-place. The Dutchman was also handed a 10-second penalty for causing a collision.

They then traded jibes both on team radio and in their post-race interviews, with Verstappen labelling his penalty 'ridiculous'. Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has now revealed that their disagreement has escalated.

The two drivers normally share the same private jet together to races. But Marko has confirmed that Norris and Verstappen opted to fly seperately in the aftermath of Sunday's clash.

“Norris’s behaviour on the radio was pathetic,” Marko told OE24. “But things like that happen and I would write it off as a racing accident, although Norris was more likely to have overstepped the mark.

“Norris’ comments that Max should apologise are not very helpful. But they will meet to talk things out. They usually fly together, but this time they were travelling separately. So Max had a quiet return flight.”

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Norris was left furious after Sunday's race, putting the full blame on Verstappen's shoulders for their crash. The British star admitted he would lose respect for the Dutchman if he pushed back.

"I'm disappointed, nothing more than that, honestly. I was looking forward to a strong, fair battle, but I wouldn't say that's what it was in the end. It was a tough one to take. It was a mistake-free race from my side and I felt like I did a good job, but I got taken out of the race," Norris said.

"There's a rule, you're not allowed to react to the other driver [under braking]. That's what he did, three times out of three. Two times I managed to avoid it, not lock up and run into him, and the third time he just ran into me.

"He ruined his own race just as he ruined mine, and there was nothing more I could do. I did my best and it was good enough, but it got ruined, not my own fault. If the rules aren't followed, there's nothing I can do about that.

"I just have to do my job which is to go out and drive fast, to do what I was doing today which was easily good enough for the win. From my side, I'll just carry on doing what I'm doing. I'm doing a good job. I got let down today.

"It depends what he says. If he says he did nothing wrong, I'll lose a lot of respect for that. He was being a bit stupid and running into me and just being a bit reckless. It's still a tough one to take, while fighting for the win while trying to be fair from my side, and he just wasn't."

2024-07-04T08:03:38Z dg43tfdfdgfd