Why a crash by Verstappen and Norris was inevitable in Austria

Anyone who wants to understand the duo's crash should actually go back to Saturday in Austria first. Indeed, George Russell hit the nail on the head in the green room when he stated that Lando Norris must have been reeling after Saturday's sprint race. A reference to Norris' state of mind after that shortened race the day before.

An amateur, Norris called himself after finishing third in that race. Finally, he had managed to surprise Verstappen with an overtaking move at turn three. He had finally passed his great friend and rival, only to leave the door open for the next corner. Verstappen was able to take advantage smiling, as was Norris' teammate Oscar Piastri.

Why Norris was already driving around frustrated

For Norris, it will have felt like yet another moment of being put to shame by Verstappen. Since the somewhat fortunate victory in Miami, Norris has been shouting from the rooftops that he and McLaren have the best car, but has not been able to win with it since. In Imola, Canada and Spain, Norris had the better car, but each time made a mistake that Verstappen was able to take advantage of.

It visibly gnawed at Norris on Saturday afternoon that he had to answer questions every time about Verstappen being faultless, while he himself had just killed a victory with a mistake. After qualifying, that frustration subsided somewhat when it turned out that Verstappen and Red Bull were simply unbeatable at the Red Bull Ring, but after the final pitstops in Austria, Norris spotted his chance for redress.

At the end of lap 51, Verstappen and Norris both enter the pit lane. Verstappen has a lead of more than seven seconds at that point, but it is wiped out in the pit lane. Verstappen's pit stop lasts 6.5 seconds. First, it goes wrong with the left-rear wheel and, to make matters worse, that delay also means having to wait for Norris to pass.

McLaren makes no mistake, although the 2.9-second pit stop is not as quick as McLaren has shown at other times. Verstappen maintains a 2.9s lead as the pair exit the pit lane. Norris has an advantage, however, as he is running on a new set of medium tyres, while Verstappen's had been used. Red Bull had counted on a race with twice the hard tyre. Of that set, Red Bull does have a new one lying around, but in the middle stint, it was found that that tyre did not work well for the race. Therefore, Verstappen is put on a used set of medium tyres.

Verstappen does not make things better when he brakes on cold tyres before turn four. The Dutchman keeps the car on track, but in the outlap, Norris has already reduced the gap to 1.7s. As the pair cross the start-finish line a lap later, Norris is already within Verstappen's DRS and Norris is able to attack Verstappen with the three DRS sections on the Red Bull Ring.

Was Verstappen's defending over the line?

On that first lap (54), Norris does not immediately mount an attack on Verstappen yet, it does not follow until lap 55. On that lap, Norris tries the same thing he did in the sprint race. The Brit wants to surprise Verstappen at turn three, but there is no surprise left for Verstappen. The Dutchman drives in the middle of the track and reacts to the right when he sees Norris go on the attack. Norris is startled and swerves to the left.

Norris complains over the team radio that Verstappen has moved into the braking zone. Norris' frustration is mounting. The Brit smells his chance at victory, but in his eyes, Verstappen has gone over the line by then. Norris complains about it several times on team radio, but the stewards do not intervene and Norris' race engineer does not get him calmed down.

On lap 59, Norris' second attack follows. Again Norris tries on the inside in turn three and something of desperation speaks from that action. Norris brakes too late for turn three, flies on the inside of Verstappen - who wisely leaves the door open - and shoots straight ahead. Norris does not wait for a judgement from the stewards and decides to give Verstappen the spot right back.

On lap 61, Norris tries a different way for the first time. This time the Brit does not choose the inside at turn three but goes for the small gap on the outside. That way, he forces Verstappen into a lesser exit towards turn four. Norris has a chance at turn four, but is forced to the outside by Verstappen and thus has to start again.

Then comes the notification from the FIA: Norris is under investigation for exceeding the track limits too often. An investigation in this case means only one thing: Norris will receive a five-second penalty. Later, the stewards will indeed rule that Norris will receive a time penalty for exceeding the track limits four times for no valid reason.

Norris gets mad at Verstappen

On lap 63, Norris still makes another attempt on the inside of turn three and this time Norris succeeds. He brakes late but makes it through the corner. Verstappen is on the outside and takes his chances. Whereas Norris gave the spot back honestly on lap 59 after gaining a position off-track, Verstappen does not do the same when he retains his position off-track. The Dutchman argues that he was pushed off track and continues to drive in first place.

This accumulates frustration with Norris. After moving while braking in the first action, he sees his rival acting unfairly on the track again in his eyes. Norris' overtaking was good, but he still did not have the lead. After weeks of being beaten by a faultless Verstappen, Norris now senses that he will really have to pull out all the stops to beat Verstappen.

The crash on lap 64 is an inevitable consequence of everything that happened before it. Verstappen continues to defend his way, while Norris is no longer willing to give an inch. Indeed, Norris has room to move to the left at that moment, but it still refuses to concede. It ends in a light contact moment between the two. Perhaps the least major incident of the entire race, but the one with the biggest consequences.

A crash between Norris and Verstappen was inevitable. When two cars are so similar and two drivers are getting closer and closer to each other, it is inevitable that it will come to a moment of contact. Norris now knows what to expect in duels with Verstappen and will have to step it up in the future to win. After all, wins don't come as a gift from Max.