Lando Norris says he would not change what he did in Formula 1’s Austrian Grand Prix, despite his race ending in a collision with Max Verstappen.
The British driver was involved in a frenetic battle for the race lead with Verstappen’s Red Bull when they came to blows on lap 64.
Verstappen squeezed Norris on the entry to Turn 3 and they made contract – with both picking up punctures and needing to return to the pits as a result.
While Verstappen was able to continue, and was later given a 10-second penalty for having caused the collision, McLaren driver Norris had to retire due to the subsequent damage his flailing tyre had caused.
Although Norris’s race ended in disappointment, he told the Chris Moyles Show on Radio X on Wednesday that he feels he did the right thing and has no regrets about taking the fight to Verstappen.
“I reviewed everything, we’ve gone over stuff, and let’s say I won’t really change what I did,” he said.
“I was fighting, and that’s what we want – we want to fight!
“We don’t want to complain, we don’t want things to end like they did, both from my Max’s side and from my side. So, that’s life sometimes.
Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38, retires in the pits after contact with Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20, whilst battling for the lead
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
“We’re fighting, we both want to win, and we’re going to push it to the limits – some slightly more than others.
“At the same time, I’m excited. We’re going to have more fights together, and I look forward to those times.”
While opinion between fans is divided about who was to blame for the incident, Norris acknowledged that in the heat of wheel-to-wheel competition it can be difficult sometimes to be pinpoint sure of where your car is.
“It’s tough,” he said. “It’s a lot harder to do some things when you’re behind the wheel.
“It’s never as easy as saying, ‘Why did you do that? Why didn’t you do this?’ Because when you’re in the car and you’re making these decisions…”
He added: “It’s so hard to be as accurate as what it looks like on TV. So when it is those two centimetres that it should be or stuff like that, it’s almost impossible to judge.
“But that’s what it is, that’s the competition we’re against, and we love it. We want to go out and race hard and we want it to be easy, because we just want to win.
“But at the same time, it puts a smile on our face when we can have that competition in a race, and I think it’s good for everyone watching.”
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