McLaren driver Lando Norris has said he will "lose a lot of respect" for Red Bull driver Max Verstappen if he does not accept responsibility for causing the crash as they battled for first place in the Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix.
Eight laps before the end, Norris tried to overtake Verstappen and take first place, there was contact in turn three, after which the tires of the McLaren and Red Bull cars were punctured. Norris had to retire and Verstappen, who was penalized 10 seconds for causing the incident, continued the race and finished fifth.
"I'm disappointed. It was a good race, I was looking forward to, I would say, a fair fight, a very fair fight. But I wouldn't say it was like that in the end. It's hard to accept this. I drove flawlessly and I think I did a good job, but I'm out of the running, nothing more than that," Norris told Sky.
Asked if the incident could affect his great friendship with Verstappen, Norris replied: "I don't know."
"It depends on what he's going to say. If he says he didn't make a mistake, then I'm going to lose a lot of respect for that. If he admits he was a little bit stupid and ran into me and was a little reckless, then I'm going to have a little bit of respect for that." Norris stated.
"But it's still hard to accept when we're fighting for the win and I'm trying to be fair and he's not. I'm not thinking about it, I'm not interested in it now, I'm just disappointed for the team," added the British driver.
Verstappen was safely in the lead, but Norris came back into the game after a slower tire change with Verstappen. The Dutch and British driver had duels on several occasions, until their contact.
When asked if the stewards should have intervened before the collision, Norris answered in the affirmative.
"There is a rule. You are not allowed to react to another driver, and he did it all three times. On two occasions I managed to avoid it and not run into him, and the third time he ran into me. I was trying to drive my race. He was obviously slower at the end. He ruined his race as well as mine. I did my best and it was no fault of my own," Norris said.
Norris is second in the championship with 156 points, and Verstappen is first with 237.
The next race in the championship is on July 7 for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
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