McLaren driver Lando Norris had a hard time hiding his disappointment on Sunday evening after his retirement from the Austrian Grand Prix following contact with Max Verstappen’s Red Bull in the final laps of the race.
During several laps at the end of the Grand Prix, Lando Norris and Max Verstappen engaged in a big battle on the track for first place until they were hit five laps from the checkered flag. Contact between the two cars forced Lando Norris to retire, while Max Verstappen was able to continue after going through the pits to put on new tires, he finished fifth despite a ten-second penalty for having caused this contact with Norris.
Speaking after his retirement, Lando Norris said: ” Until there [jusqu’au contact]I think it was a good race.”
“We were clearly a little behind in terms of overall pace compared to Max [Verstappen]during the first and second relays, we were a little behind. But they [Red bull] seemed to make a lot more mistakes than us. »
“They missed their pit stop, which is rare for them, but clearly we put a little pressure on them and they started to slip a little bit. I felt like I had had a good race. I stayed in the fight the whole time. »
Regarding his collision with Verstappen which forced him to retire five laps from the finish, Norris added: “I just feel disappointed. There’s a lot of damage to the car, it’s completely destroyed so…it’s a shame, I don’t know what to say.”
“You always want to keep rolling [malgré les dégâts], and I think if I had come back to the pits in a better way, I probably could have come out and scored some points, but the car was too damaged. I do not know what to say. I did everything I could, I fought a fair, respectful and borderline battle, but that’s not what I got in return. »
When asked if he would speak about this incident with his friend Max Verstappen, the Briton replied: “It’s not up to me to do it, it’s up to him to say something, I didn’t do anything wrong.” He was the one who was wrong, so he should be the one to say something, not me. »
After the Austrian Grand Prix, Lando Norris is still second in the drivers’ world championship, but the Briton sees Max Verstappen widen the gap even further, now 81 points behind the Red Bull driver.
