Albon sides with Verstappen: 'Would have been angry with stewards'

It is the talk of the day at Silverstone this Thursday: what do drivers think of the fight between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris and the penalty the former received after the crash. Alexander Albon also told his opinion in conversation with GPblog and others.

Did Verstappen race 'fairly' against Norris last Sunday? The reigning world champion is blamed for changing line under braking. Albon calls that "questionable", he explained. "I think it was questionable, more the first move where Max moved under braking the first time. I don't really think he moved under braking on the one where they made contact, I think that was more just kind of heading more towards a straight line just than going more towards the left, but yeah, definitely more you guys enjoying it than then I think the reality of it."

Verstappen/Norris relationship

The man who scored two World Championship points this season continued, "Well, I think they're both going for the win so it's going to be emotional and they're in the moment, you know? They're they're fighting for victories so I think it will play an impact to their relationship to some degree, especially as McLaren are going to be fighting more and more for that victory. So, I think you're going to get the same action this weekend and for the rest of the year. It's just natural when two drivers keep finding themselves in the same positions, first and second, then they're going to have more chances to bang wheels."

Albon was not surprised that Norris was so aggressive at the Red Bull Ring. "No, not at all. I think every driver would. I don't know any driver who would be in the chance to win a race, be Max or Lando, and kind of not put it on the line. We are all very similarly programmed," Albon told in the Silverstone paddock.

Lack of clarity on penalties

Under braking, you are not allowed to change lines according to the book of regulations, for safety reasons that rule was introduced in Formula 1 a few years ago. But there remains debate about what is and is not allowed. And moreover in general: drivers often do not know what is and is not allowed because often certain actions also go unpunished.

"If there's no contact being made then it's very often not talked about. [...] When i saw the the actual incident itself, to me it was just a racing incident. Lando went for that space on the outside, Max thought there was enough space for Lando to go. On paper, there was, but the way that Lando attacked the outside line and went so aggressively to it, you can't move that much in that position. You're kind of stuck in a straight line just because if you turn out the way, you'll end up locking up. So, yeah, it's a racing incident," Albon said. "Because they made contact, no [it wasn't harsh]. [But] if I was Max, I'd be upset if I had a penalty for that."