David Coulthard believes Verstappen will never apologise for his tough racing style against competitors.
Coulthard is convinced that Max Verstappen will not apologise for the incident with Lando Norris in Austria. According to the former F1 driver, the three-time world champion struggles to admit his faults and will always believe he has followed the rules.
“The saying is ‘hell will freeze over’,” Coulthard stated on Channel 4. “Max will say, ‘I was racing, it’s tough racing’. It’s the first time Lando has experienced wheel-to-wheel racing, weekend after weekend.”
“We know what happened when Lewis [Hamilton] was wheel-to-wheel with Max. Max is one of the toughest drivers. To beat him, you need to match him.”
The Scotsman was surprised to see tensions rise so quickly between the two drivers: “The fresh tyres McLaren saved during qualifying allowed Lando to close the gap, get the DRS, and go for a gap at turn three. But he was blocked by Max, and Lando was not happy.”
“He thought, ‘he moved after I showed I was coming inside’. Next time, he goes inside but runs off the track; and the next time, he pushes Max off the track. Max said he had nowhere to go and stayed in front.”
“It cost them both.”
Coulthard notes that the initial problem occurs when Verstappen cuts across and makes contact: “That’s where the real trouble starts, that contact at the corner entry, another contact once they passed the apex, both with punctures and damage.”
“Preventable incidents for both, it cost them both. That’s what Lando will complain about, right at the end, at the corner entry, with Max continuing to move to the left. He’ll say, ‘he squeezed me’, and you can’t do that on the brakes.”
Asked about the stewards’ decision, Coulthard is convinced Verstappen went too far, though he will say otherwise: “He definitely pushed Lando off the track. If there had been a barrier, they both would have bounced off it.”
“I fully understand that Max wants to say, ‘wait a minute, he could have gone further than the edge of the kerb’. But the stewards reviewed the situation, they got more information, they issued a penalty to Max and, ultimately, it doesn’t change his position in the race.”
Brundle and Davidson blame Verstappen
Martin Brundle was asked about responsibility, and he blames Verstappen: “It was bound to happen at some point. They were becoming so aggressive towards each other. Max moved towards him on the left, he squeezed him. In my opinion, it’s Max to blame for this one.”
“It was a bit of the old Max, with razor-sharp elbows in the braking zones. I don’t know how plane journeys, dinners, and games will go between Verstappen and Norris now. It has taken a different turn, hasn’t it?”
Among the ranks of former drivers, Anthony Davidson also assigns responsibility to Verstappen: “For me, it was the attack that was going to allow Lando to win the race, because he had forced his opponent to leave the racing line, correctly leave the racing line.”
“He was on the right line, he was behind on the DRS detection to then find himself inside at the exit and challenge turn four. If you move inside, you must leave the width of a Formula 1 car from the white line at the edge of the track. There’s not the width of a car.”
Coulthard: No Apology from Verstappen, Says Expert. Coulthard: No Apology from Verstappen, Says Expert
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