Was the Verstappen/Norris collision exaggerated?

They claim that time heals all wounds. Lando Norris’ comments during his Austrian Grand Prix race-deciding altercation with Max Verstappen were significantly harsher than his reply a few days later, made with the benefit of hindsight and distance from the event.

Let us compare them. Norris used the phrases “reckless” and “desperate” in Austria to describe Verstappen’s strong efforts to maintain the lead heading into Turn 3. The Briton told Sky that “if he says he did nothing wrong, then I will lose a lot of respect for that,” implying that his friend and rival was entirely to blame for the confrontation.

Norris’s heart had changed slightly four days later. There were still misgivings in his later deconstruction of the occurrence, primarily over the concept of moving under braking, but Norris now believes that the collision was the result of ‘near to the edge’ racing rather than exceeding the restrictions.

“I honestly don’t think he needed to apologise, some of the things I said in the pen after the race were more just because I was frustrated at the time,” Norris recalls.

“A lot of energy, a lot of emotions, and I may have spoken some things I didn’t believe in, especially later in the week.

“It was a fairly sad occurrence in terms of what stopped both of our races; there wasn’t an evident point of contact. It was probably one of the smallest pieces of touch you could have, yet it had a really bad outcome for both of us, particularly for me.

“As a review, a good race, at times very close to the edge, but we’ve spoken about it, and we’re both happy to go racing again.”

Initially claiming that he was out of room on the track’s edge, Norris later admitted that he could have taken a little more margin over the kerb on the left to avoid the incident, but added that “there’s things from both sides that I’m sure we wanted to do better, in a slightly different way.”

Whenever there is a high-profile incident on the track, especially when two drivers lock horns in the battle for victory, a frenzy will likely ensue across all channels. It adds credence to Eric Cantona’s enigmatic statement given in 1995, in response to a successful appeal against a brief prison sentence for kicking a supporter: “When seagulls follow the trawler, it is because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea”. Swooping at the sight of a silver waterfall of discarded aquatic life is intuitive.

Reviewing the incident today, without the implicit context, is different from watching it four days earlier. At the time, the event was the culmination of a heated on-track battle that threatened to turn ugly. It was the climax of everything that had come before it after the final set of stops, and it was completely avoidable, but Norris later felt that he could have moved slightly to the left…

But it has to be done in gorgeous Technicolor. A crash between the championship leader and a newly minted first-time winner who is considered an outsider? There is only one story in town at that point, and it will undoubtedly be thoroughly examined.

In the interest of rigour, let us go over it again. Sound off so that no commentary can exacerbate the situation, and without the prior 64 laps to characterize the occurrences.

Without context, the incident appears trivial. It’s a great example of two drivers that hardly overlap but have the most dramatic results. Norris does, according to his later comments, have some latitude to take more kerb on the left-hand side. Verstappen, for his part, may have gone slightly inwards, but it’s fair to conclude that the Dutchman isn’t expecting a move to his left; his head does not give the telltale sign of a small look to his left. His gaze is locked on the apex at that point.

There is a move under braking, which Verstappen reverted to in a number of his defensive forms, but it is not wholly reactionary; there is a distinction between moving under braking and moving to take the line to open the corner. Given Verstappen’s previous misdeeds in his career, it’s open to malicious interpretation – but one could argue that Hanlon’s razor may apply in this case.

Verstappen received a 10-second penalty for the incident, but it had no effect on his fifth-place finish because he was yards ahead of Nico Hulkenberg. Whether it was worth a penalty or not is up to the stewards’ discretion; on another day, with marginally different (and lesser) repercussions, the book may have ended with ‘racing incident’ penciled in.

Did the media overreact? At the time, probably not. It was a high-profile incident that deserved to be covered fully. With time and the opportunity to reassess, the decision may alter slightly. Everyone has an opinion about something, and when it comes to racing, which is mainly subjective, it is best to name it as one deems fit.

But it’s always beneficial to reexamine anything with new eyes. Perhaps Daniel Ricciardo best captures the scene, having seen it from the outside.

“I think the outcome was bigger than probably what was actually happening on the track,” the Australian said. “From what I saw, nothing looked excessive.

“Was it pushing the boundaries? Probably. Was anything risky or reckless? “No, from what I’ve seen.”