Ricciardo on Norris and Verstappen's crash: "Wasn't Copse 2021"

F1 News

ricciardo defends verstappen after incident with lando norris
4 July at 19:18
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  • Ludo van Denderen

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.