Verstappen and Norris crash: What exactly went wrong and was Max guilty?
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Max Verstappen and Lando Norris were the talk of the day after their crash in the Austrian Grand Prix. How did the contact moment come about, who was at fault and how bad was the offence? An analysis of the much-discussed moment.
On lap 64, Lando Norris was on Max Verstappen's tail. For laps, Norris has been trying to pass his friend and rival, but on several occasions, it just failed. Twice Norris went inside at turn three. Once, Verstappen closed the door at the last moment, and once Norris shot straight ahead. In turn four, Norris also tried to go outside, but he could not find a passage there either.
Why Verstappen left the door open for Norris
On lap 64, Norris still wanted to try again in turn three or at least force Verstappen to defend. He succeeded. On the run-up to turn three, Verstappen was driving in the middle of the track. The door on the inside was open, but the more you defend in turn three, the bigger your problem in turn four. It is for this reason that Verstappen does not steer all the way to the inside.
Norris had already tried the inside twice in this corner but seemed to have his sights set on turn four, just like two laps before. At turn three, Norris was particularly keen to force Verstappen off the ideal line, in order to have a better exit towards turn four.
When Norris arrived at Verstappen using his DRS at high speed, there was plenty of space on the outside. Norris put his car there and braked late. Verstappen saw Norris coming, and onboard, the Dutchman also steered slightly to the right to give Norris a little more space.
However, Verstappen also knew what Norris was up to and wanted to steer slightly left to limit Norris' space and maximise his own exit. It should also be taken into account that the track itself turns slightly to the left in that corner. So the car is already automatically steering slightly to the left.
Who was to blame for the crash?
As Verstappen steered to the left and Norris held his line - after all, there is also space on his left - the two drivers hit each other. The contact is very light. Verstappen's left rear wheel and Norris' right rear wheel touch. Those two tyres both do not survive the contact. After the first contact, a second moment of contact follows when Norris wants to turn in, but Verstappen shoots straight through due to the puncture. Norris damages his brand new front wing in the process.
The stewards rule that Verstappen did indeed, with Norris at his side, steer to the left and is therefore responsible for the crash. Verstappen gets a ten-second penalty, although it didn't change his result. After his pit stop, Verstappen comes back on track fifth and despite the ten-second penalty, Verstappen is also classified fifth. Norris dropped out due to damage to his car.
After watching the footage of the incident, Verstappen characterises it as a clumsy and unfortunate moment. Watching the footage back, that conclusion is understandable. The consequences were far greater than the magnitude of the incident. Verstappen did not steer in aggressively, nor did he make a very strange move. He steered slightly to the outside and the two made light contact. In many cases, both drivers could probably have continued driving. In Spielberg that was not the case.