Max Verstappen caused a collision with Lando Norris in Austria, but according to Marc Priestley, it was Verstappen’s reaction after the crash that was more concerning.
Priestley believes Verstappen’s behavior was “petulant” and “in retaliation”, making it more dangerous than the initial contact.
The crash occurred on lap 64 of the Austrian Grand Prix while Verstappen and Norris were battling for the lead, with Christian Horner calling the contact “inevitable”.
Verstappen was comfortably leading the race by more than seven seconds, but a slow pit stop and a lock-up allowed Norris to try and challenge for the lead.
Norris attempted to pass Verstappen on multiple occasions, but Verstappen blocked his moves each time.
On lap 64, Norris tried to overtake Verstappen at Turn 3, but they made contact, resulting in punctures for both cars.Norris had to retire his car, while Verstappen got fresh tires and finished the race in fifth place.This extended Verstappen’s lead in the Drivers’ standings to 81 points over Norris.
He finished in P5 even though he got a 10-second penalty from the stewards for causing the collision.
Priestley, who used to work for McLaren, thinks the penalty was fair, but he is surprised that the stewards didn’t penalize Verstappen earlier for moving during braking while defending against Norris.
“My friends used to support Verstappen and Red Bull until today,” said the 47-year-old on his YouTube channel.
“Lately, we’ve been impressed by how well Verstappen and Red Bull handle pressure.
They always perform excellently without making many mistakes, both the team and the driver.”
During the race, we witnessed a problematic pit stop that allowed Lando Norris to get back into the competition.
There were some questionable decisions made regarding race strategy, although it might be a bit unfair to be too critical.
Additionally, we observed some questionable driving behavior from Max Verstappen when he was put under pressure. It felt like we were seeing the Verstappen of the past, when he first entered the sport and faced criticism for his aggressive driving style and questionable maneuvers, such as moving under braking.
Despite the fact that a rule was implemented to prevent moving under braking because of incidents involving Verstappen, he appeared to break that rule himself. However, the stewards did not seem to entirely agree on the matter, which I personally find quite perplexing.
When I consider those events leading up to the actual contact, I can recall one, maybe two instances where Verstappen was clearly to blame in my opinion.
Out of the three incidents in question, one seemed acceptable. In one of them, Lando went on the inside, skidded a tire, lost control a bit, and pushed Verstappen off the track. Max was pushed off because Lando made a mistake, causing Max to go off the track.
The other incidents, like moving during braking, are extremely dangerous, which is why it’s prohibited.The drivers are pushing their cars to the limit, speeding into the turn, and braking at the very last moment.
They are not simply slowing down for a roundabout like we do in our cars with some extra room, they are pushing the limits, trying to brake better than their competition.
They aim to squeeze out every tiny fraction of a second from the car. They are using all the power the car has, all the grip the tires can offer, and all the braking force they can create by pressing the pedal as forcefully as possible.
“I don’t understand how the stewards can say that what happened is not just a violation but also very risky. The 10-second penalty seemed fair to me, but I would have agreed if it was more severe. I believe that it is equally if not more dangerous.
Verstappen’s actions after the incident worried Priestley the most. Verstappen had a rear puncture, but he still tried to push Norris off the track by moving across to the right where Norris was gaining on him.”
“But then it continued because after the corner,” he said in his review of the incident, “on the way to Turn 4, it looked like Max started to move over and push Lando off the race track. “His car was out of control at that moment, he knew he was heading for the pit lane.
Lando still had more grip as his tire hadn’t given out yet, but Max was still determined not to let him pass. It almost seemed like he was angry after the incident.
Understand F1 is very dangerous nevertheless Max was very risky against Lando. I agree with Priestly that penalty should be stronger, for example 10 positions for next race, not the soft 10 seconds.