Ex-F1 team boss insists Max Verstappen can’t afford to race ‘clean’ against Lando Norris
Max Verstappen's recent races have been marred with dicey racing with Lando Norris, which Guenther Steiner elaborated upon.
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Max Verstappen and Lando Norris (via Planetf1)
For the past two weekends, the F1 world has kept an eye on how Max Verstappen and Lando Norris have been battling out on track. Former Haas team boss Guenther Steiner explained how Verstappen could not afford to race clean with his British rival owing to the pressure of the diminishing lead in the drivers’ championship.
Lando Norris and Max Verstappen have been battling each other strongly since the Austin GP weekend. After the former was reprimanded in Austin, the Dutchman was hit with penalties in Mexico, which saw him finish P6 behind the Mercedes pair instead of a projected P4 finish.
Subsequently, Guenther Steiner dwelled into deeper depths about Verstappen’s iffy driving with Norris.
If he would have raced clean, there is a chance that Lando would not have won the race. But, Verstappen might have finished fourth. Then he would have had more points. But you can’t be that strategic when you’re in a race car, going into a corner at 250 kilometres per hour.
Guenther Steiner said on the Red Flags podcast
At the Mexican GP, Verstappen did not put up a stern defense when Carlos Sainz made a move at turn one. However, in a span of one lap, his defense turned into a giant wall when the Norris started looming in his mirrors.
Max Verstappen states that the Mexican GP was a race to forget
With the triple champion coming home in P6 at Mexico, it was his lowest race finish this whole season, which was matched at the Italian GP earlier this year. Moreover, with Lando Norris gaining further ground in the championship, Max Verstappen admitted that the Mexican GP was a race to forget for him.
Mexico was a race to quickly forget. We know we can do better and are working hard to find out what went wrong, also to improve our form for the last races. We have to do everything we can to be more competitive and react stronger.
Max Verstappen said in an interview
Red Bull also had a torrid weekend in Mexico. Sergio Perez struggled throughout the race and got into a competition with the sister outfit VCARB which saw the fight get quite vocal both on and off the track.
With the Austrian giant’s woes continuing, Ferrari capitalized on the issues and leapfrogged it in the constructor’s standings. Red Bull’s seemingly impenetrable grasp in the constructors’ championship has been breached by its two arch nemeses.
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Geetansh Pasricha
(772 Articles Published)