McLaren add more fuel to Max Verstappen fire with rare social media post

Lando Norris and Max Verstappen battle it out at the 2024 Austrian Grand Prix

The official McLaren account has shared a clip of Sky F1’s Anthony Davidson breaking down the controversial contact between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris during the Austrian Grand Prix on X — adding more fuel to the social media fire.

In the clip, Davidson, a former Formula 1 test driver and now Sky Sports pundit, uses onboard cameras to illustrate that Max Verstappen moved under braking during several of Norris’ overtake attempts.

On Max Verstappen: ‘It doesn’t get any clearer than that…’

McLaren shared the Davidson clip with the caption, “Thorough analysis from former F1 test driver and expert pundit Anthony Davidson on not just Lando and Max’s incident, but ones that have gone before… ”

Davidson starts by analyzing Lando Norris’ first attempt at overtaking Verstappen on Lap 55 using clips from Norris’ visor cam as well as the rear-facing camera on the RB20.

From these angles, Davidson shows Norris darting to the right to overtake Verstappen just as Verstappen approaches the 100-meter board, which Davidson points out denotes the standard braking location for the turn.

Norris “has showed his hand” by making the move, he says, but Verstappen clearly moves to the right to defend — after he has already started braking.

Davidson concludes that, in that clip, Verstappen is “guilty as charged, as far as I’m concerned.”

Davidson also praises Norris for his quick thinking and ability to slow down in the face of Verstappen’s sudden move, pointing out previous incidences where the following car has collided with Verstappen as he moves under braking.

But that isn’t the only move Davidson analyzes.

He moves on to Norris’ overtake attempt on Lap 59, where Norris makes his move and locks up his tyres. The McLaren driver had to give back the position he gained, as he had completed the overtake off the track — but Davidson points out that, again, Verstappen made a subtle move toward Norris while under braking.

Then we arrive at Lap 63, where Davidson observes that “Norris has lost a little bit of confidence in who he’s racing.”

Here, Norris moves to the right in an attempt to overtake Verstappen — but he does so by driving very wide. Davidson points this out as being a loss of confidence in his rival.

“He’s going purposely much closer [to the apex] than he should have done into that corner,” Davidson observes, “but he gets the braking spot on.”

He then notes that he feels Norris’ move was fair, and that while Verstappen did run off the track, the blame shouldn’t fall on Norris’ shoulders for making an unfair move.

But Davidson does something else here: He pulls up a clip from 2019, showing Verstappen making a very similar move on Charles Leclerc. In that clip, the drivers make obvious contact, and Verstappen pushes Leclerc off the track. Verstappen wasn’t penalized for the move.

Thorough analysis from former F1 test driver and expert pundit Anthony Davidson on not just Lando and Max’s incident, but ones that have gone before… #AustrianGP pic.twitter.com/MoqNe9jEzF

— McLaren (@McLarenF1) July 2, 2024

Davidson uses this as precedent to argue against Red Bull’s stance that Norris pushed Verstappen off the track; perhaps Norris did, but “you don’t get a penalty for that, as we’ve seen in the past.”

Finally, Davidson shows Norris’ move on Lap 64, where he had succeeded in pushing Verstappen off the racing line and taking track space for himself. The pundit calls it a fair move, as Norris gave Verstappen the required amount of space — the width of a car — to make the slingshot maneuver.

Then, that space shrinks as Verstappen moves out.

The clip ends as Davidson asks, “Is there still a car’s width?”

More conclusions from the Verstappen v Norris incident

 Max Verstappen accused of multiple FIA rule breaks after ‘vastly dangerous’ moves

 Helmut Marko apportions blame in ‘unnecessarily fierce’ Verstappen v Norris clash

Norris had a chance at battling Verstappen for the lead of the Austrian Grand Prix after a slow tyre change ate up the Red Bull driver’s lead. A fiery 10-lap battle commenced, with attempting several overtakes before the two drivers collided.

Verstappen was issued a 10-second penalty for causing the collision, but many pundits have begun to muse that that penalty wasn’t enough.

By sharing the clip, it appears to suggest that McLaren agree with Marc Priestley’s assessment that it is strange FIA stewards didn’t also penalize Verstappen for moving under braking — a rule that Verstappen himself inspired the FIA to introduce.

The rule effectively codified a former informal agreement that drivers would not move to defend while under braking. Moving under braking can be seen as erratic, and it can lead to contact.

Whatever McLaren’s intent is in sharing the Davidson clip on X, it’s sure to fan the flames of the ongoing Verstappen v Norris battle.

Read next: Has Verstappen v Norris clash lit fuse for bitter 2021-esque title fight?