Brutal message šāIām not there to crash you outā ā Verstappen shares details of post-Austria chat with Norris after āsillyā coming together
Verstappen and Norris were fighting for the lead at the Red Bull Ring when they banged wheels in the closing laps, giving both drivers punctures and forcing the latter out of the race due to additional damage.
After offering their immediate post-race thoughts to the media, the pair had a chat the following day when things ācooled downā, with Verstappen ā who wound up fifth with a 10-second penalty ā now sharing more details on what they discussed.
āTo me, the only thing that I cared about is of course maintaining my relationship with Lando, because we are great friends,ā Verstappen said, in the wake of Norrisās own comments at Silverstone.
āAfter the race I said we have to just let things cool down, because emotions run high. We immediately spoke on Monday and I think we came to the conclusion that we actually really enjoyed our battle.
āWe were both of courseā¦ We looked at the incident and 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 then evolved.
āBut we like to race hard. Weāve done this for many years, not only in F1, even in online racing when we have a lot of fun together. These things have to carry on, because thatās what we like to do, and I think itās great for F1 as well.ā
Pushed on how much he discussed with Norris, and how they both now look back on the clash, Verstappen continued: āWe agree with 99% of everything, so I think thatās a lot already.
āNaturally, I always said to Lando, when you go for moves up the inside, outside, you can trust me that Iām not there to try and crash you out of the way, same the other way around, because we spoke about that as well.
āThereās always a human reaction when someone dives up the inside or outside that you have a bit of a reaction to it, but I felt everything that I did was nothing massively over the top.
āLike how you 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 thatās the same how you race, otherwise you will never be a top driver and you will never succeed in life anyway.ā
Verstappen was then asked if it is possible to stay friends with another driver when fighting for the ultimate prizes, to which he replied: āIt depends a bit on your personalities.
