After their crash at the Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix, Max Verstappen held conversations to try to mend their friendship. After that, he swore to race Lando Norris “flat out” going forward.
Verstappen survived a puncture to finish sixth, but Norris was forced to retire on Lap 64 due to damage incurred following his collision with the leader. In the wake of the incident, the British driver criticized Verstappen for his “reckless” driving; however, the McLaren driver has subsequently recanted his remarks.
In addition, the 24-year-old stated that he had spoken with Verstappen on Monday about their contentious altercation. Verstappen expressed his satisfaction at having their issues resolved so as to avoid causing long-term harm to their friendship.
“My primary concern was preserving my friendship with Lando as we are close friends,” Verstappen said to the media at Silverstone, which included Total-Motorsport.com. We just need to give things some time to settle down after the race because feelings are so high.
“We immediately spoke [on Monday] and I think we came to the conclusion that we actually really enjoyed our battle, but we looked at the end and it was such a silly little touch that had great consequences for both of us, more for Lando with how his tyre punctured.
“But we like to race hard. We’ve done this for many years, not only in Formula 1, even with online racing and we had a lot of fun together. These things have to carry on because that’s what we like to do and I think it’s great for Formula 1 as well.”
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