Steam was coming out of Andrea Stella's ears, immediately after the incident between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris at the Austrian Grand Prix. The fact that Verstappen - at least in his eyes - had not been punished enough after the clash with Norris was due, according to the Italian, to too soft action by the stewards after previous 'infringements' by the Dutchman. Just under a week later, Daniel Ricciardo also learnt what Stella had said at the Red Bull Ring and the Australian immediately defended Verstappen.
"That's the first time I've heard it," the Visa Cash App RB driver told the media, including GPblog. "I think referring to something from a few years ago... It seems like people are hacking at Max. It sounds like this is all being approached pretty disproportionately. When I say he hasn't changed, I mean that in the way he races, he leaves nothing out. That's what a lot of fans admire in him."
Verstappen from agressive to very mature
Ricciardo was his teammate in Verstappen's early years in Formula 1. That was the time when the Dutchman sometimes drove too aggressively, with all the consequences. But the Max of then is not the Max of today, the three-time world champion said. According to Ricciardo, Verstappen has become very mature over the years.
"Absolutely. It's not like he gets into this situation every time. I don't think he needs to be seriously challenged about this. Maybe in the driver briefing tomorrow I'll hear something different. But you fight for victory. It was unfortunate. I don't think their incident was dangerous. It was at relatively low speed. It wasn't a corner nine situation at Copse in '21 (when Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton collided, sending Verstappen into the barrier). That had much bigger consequences."
For now, Verstappen gets the benefit of the doubt from Ricciardo. "Look, if this goes on for a few races like this and then you think: okay... But I don't think one race is enough to create a storyline like: 'Oh, nothing has changed'."
This article was written in collaboration with Ben Stevens.
Copse 2021 was a racing incident where two cars fleetingly touched tyres. If Max had done that to Lewis, you would be criticising Lewis and not calling Max's move 'an assault'. The assault came later in Monza 2021 and again in Jeddah 2021. Nothing about Silverstone 2021 was deliberate or with malice. With Max, his moves are deliberate. I don't believe he meant to collide with Norris in Austria, he just assumed Norris would yield and he was wrong, just as he was with Lewis in Silverstone. If Max hadn't assumed Lewis would yield and stayed wide instead of cutting into Lewis' path, Max wouldn't have had to have his little crash.
Ha, That's a good one, having the nerve to call anyone else bias with the comments you make.
I'll take that as a compliment. It's funny that I've had Dutch Max fans begging me to listen to and watch videos of Jolyon Palmer and Will Buxton (both British), to like to the expert Brundle. I was asked to listen to them and watch their videos as they said things that the Max fan approved of. These were experts, pundits, ex F1 drivers that all knew better than me, better than us armchair critics. All three of these people criticised Max in Austria 2024. And Max fans slagged all of them off. Well, what happened to listening to experts, pundits and ex F1 drivers? Why now are their credentials being criticised? Because they said something against Max? So it's not really how expert or knowledgable these people are that concerns the Max fans is it? It's whether they are saying what they want to hear or not. As soon as they don't, their expertise is meaningless to you. I would rather sound like Sky Sports than be hypocritical and have double standards. YOU are biased so wth are you talking about? Every Max fan on here is biased and you talk of it like other people shouldn't have it because it's a bad thing. Having a bias is fine. ALL of us have bias, including you. What matters if whether what we say is true and if our opinions are sound. I can't believe I have to talk to you like a parent to a child to explain this to you.
If Lewis kept the copse clean and fair, there wouldn't have been a collission. Lewis made a mistake and understeered. It happens, but nevertheless it was a mistake on Lewis side. Austria was a mistake from Max. Monza and Jeddah are just your bias mind speaking.
Max's driving in Jeddah was way over the top, not to mention the petulant walking off the podium..... But this is where the hypocrisy of Max fans gets laid bare, as the posters who defend Verstappens driving now and 21 especially are now whining at Norris who gave Max a taste of his own medicine and they didn't like it.....It's always the same posters who spew the same obsessed nonsense about Hamilton.
I think in Austria Max made a mistake, which I already have mentioned several times. The thing that I don't understand is that some people are only critical on the moves Max made, but aren't critical about the moves from Lando. Both drives raced hard and went to the limit with how they raced. and both had a role in how the race ended. Personally, I liked it and hope both will keep at it, hopefully next time without a collision. By the way, I just reacted to the nonsense of 44-7. Both Monza and Jeddah were no assault, just as I commented below on the nonsense from John Andrews as Silverstone was no assault.
Right on! The hate they have for Hamilton is now being directed at Norris after only 1 battle where it was Max in the wrong. Norris will become their new Hamilton. To be slagged off and hated for daring to challenge the protected one. And no matter how wrong Max is, they will defend him to the hilt. Especially JEM who can see no wrong in Max, ever. I'd love to see what JEM has to say now about his other favourite man, Jolyon Palmer. He has begged me to listen to Palmer. But this time both Palmer and Buxton criticised Max. Now I'll listen to them both :) For a Max fan, an expert/ex F1 driver/pundit is only worth listening to while they are saying what they want to hear. The moment that person criticises their driver, they are insulted and their credentials rendered meaningless. These are the people I am required to be civil with. They can't even be reasonable or honest. And I really shouldn't engage in a battle of wits with unarmed people.
Nope, it was a crash because Lewis misjudged his entry speed and heading. No need to create a silly story that isn't true.
Don't you love how the main complaint from Max fans is 'bias'? As though it's a major sin. They use 'bias' and 'hate' to explain away criticism of their driver. It's the easy exit for them. If they can put it down to that, then they don't have to debate for their driver. And the funny thing is the Max fans who cry about bias are some of the most biased people you will meet on this blog. I mean, that's just hilarious to me. The irony is palpable.
Well,maybe Perez will do something really stupid this weekend and we can talk about that for.the next two weeks....the whole Austria incident is like a broken record by now... RB,Max,Norris and McLaren all know both sides could have done some things differently,but you can't change the past,best to move in and learn from the mistakes made.
Perez isn't racing for a win or a title. The only other person who isn't but will raise as much criticism is Lewis. And I think some are waiting for Lewis to do something wrong, so they can vent for all the stuff said against Max after Austria. I do think it's not the severity of what Max did, it was that the old Max had returned. But did he ever go away? All those claims that Max had matured were blown into oblivion after Austria. People were reminded of 2021. All we want is for Max to race hard but keep it clean and within the rules. It seems that we shouldn't even want this as we are criticised for criticising those who can't keep it clean. If Norris had squeezed Max off track and collided with him, I would know he was in the wrong. But my take was that it's Max getting back the same medicine he has dished out. That wouldn't make Norris right though. So yeah, lets see where we go from here. I want to see Norris and Max wheel to wheel again in Silverstone. I want to see how Max reacts (which I think will be somewhat predictable) and how Norris reacts and if he can be as strong. My only other take is Max saying he doesn't want to collide with someone. But history has shown otherwise. I think Max doesn't mind as long at it's wheels against wheels and he come off better. "and learn from mistakes made". I don't see that happening with Max. For that to happen he first has to acknowledge he made a mistake and he hasn't. And his team have told him it was all Norris' fault. Norris needs to learn to drive decisively and when going up the inside, nail your braking point.
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