Christian Horner labels Lando Norris’ divebomb on Max Verstappen “unnecessary” after Austrian GP collision

Lando Norris and Max Verstappen's collision caused massive damage to both the parties involved in the incident.

Christian Horner labels Lando Norris’ divebomb on Max Verstappen “unnecessary” after Austrian GP collision

Max Verstappen, Lando Norris and Christian Horner (Via: Imago)

The collision between Lando Norris and Max Verstappen caused Red Bull to lose major points in front of the home crowd. Both the people involved in the incident were extremely dissatisfied with the collision and exchanged some heavy words with each other. Christian Horner has broken his silence over the matter and sided with the Red Bull star on the crash.

Christian Horner noted that the ten-second time penalty to Max Verstappen was a bit too harsh. Additionally, the Red Bull boss highlighted that the Briton was doing a lot of unnecessary divebombing. Regardless, Horner took positivity from the race and highlighted that it was great to extend the lead in the championship.

I think [the penalty] was harsh, Lando was doing a lot of divebombing, it felt uneccessary. That was a win to get here but that's racing sometimes. Even with the frustration today we still managed to extend both of the championships.
Christian Horner said, as reported by F1TV.
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Lando Norris noted that the friendship between the two would take a massive toll if Max Verstappen declined to take the blame for the incident. The Dutchman noted that the Briton should be ready to race hard if he wanted to win races. Additionally, Norris claimed that the Dutchman heavily damaged Norris’ chassis.

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Christian Horner claimed Lando Norris was ‘due’ to get a penalty for repeated violations

The Austrian GP was nothing short of a frenzy with multiple incidents and racing action. Verstappen was soaring to score the race win when the collision caused a sudden change in the results. Norris wasn’t the most innocent as even he caused multiple mistakes during the race.

Christian Horner and Max Verstappen
Christian Horner and Max Verstappen (Via: Imago)

After the collision both the drivers were deserving of a penalty and not only Verstappen. Horner pointed out that Norris himself exceeded the track limits four times and was due a penalty. The Briton seemed ‘ambitious’ while racing on the track. Regardless, the end of the race was extremely frustrating and cost several points to the team.

Lando exceeded the track limits four times and he's due to get a penalty, it just felt like he was ambitious with that in mind, very frustrating today.
Christian Horner noted.

Red Bull will have to continue to score great results despite the struggling pace in the 2024 season. The end of the season will pose great excitement and racing action in the forefront. The competition has never been closer ever since the beginning of the ground-effect era.

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