Max Verstappen subject of ‘hammering’ in Daniel Ricciardo racing style verdict

Max Verstappen and Lando Norris raced hard at the Austrian GP

Daniel Ricciardo believes the reaction to the clash between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris in Austria led to the Dutch driver getting “hammered”.

Verstappen came in for quite a lot of criticism following the contact between himself and McLaren’s Lando Norris as the pair duelled for the lead of the Austrian Grand Prix.

Daniel Ricciardo: People are hammering Max Verstappen

The clash, caused as neither Verstappen nor Norris gave each other an inch as they raced into Turn 3 in the closing stages of the race at the Red Bull Ring, resulted in both cars picking up catastrophic punctures.

While Verstappen was able to straggle home in fifth place, Norris was forced to retire due to his flailing tyre tearing the bodywork of his car apart. Verstappen was given a 10-second time penalty after being found to be predominantly at fault for the collision, which had no effect on his finishing position.

The steward’s investigation also found there was nothing untoward found regarding moving under braking when it came to Verstappen’s driving, which had been an accusation leveled at the Red Bull driver by commenters and observers.

In the immediate aftermath of the race, an angry Norris called for an apology from the Dutch driver while McLaren team boss Andrea Stella lambasted Verstappen as he appeared on Sky F1 after the chequered flag.

“I see that the entire population in the world knows who is responsible except for a group of people [Red Bull],” Stella said.

“But the problem behind it is that if you don’t address these things, honestly, they will come back.”

Referring to the 2021 season, in which Verstappen was involved in some contentious incidents with title rival Lewis Hamilton, Stella said the FIA should have come down harder on the Red Bull driver.

“They have come back today because they were not addressed properly in the past when there were some fights with Lewis,” he said.

“That needed to be punished in a harsher way like this. You learn how to race in a certain way, which we can consider fair and square.

“[There have been] many episodes. The fact is that we have so much respect for Red Bull, so much respect for Max. They don’t need to do this. They don’t need to do this as a way to almost compromise your reputation. Why would you do that?”

The incident also prompted plenty of social media backlash against Verstappen, particularly as an analysis of the incident made by Anthony Davidson for Sky F1 parked the blame for the clash on the three-time F1 World Champion.

While Norris’ stance had softened by the time F1 rolled into Silverstone, rowing back on his demand for an apology and even suggesting the Dutch driver didn’t deserve a penalty, McLaren CEO Zak Brown continued to point over at Red Bull and suggested the Milton Keynes-based squad races with “a lack of respect” for the regulations.

Daniel Ricciardo, speaking out on the incident as he spoke to media, including PlanetF1.com, over the weekend, said he felt comparisons to the 2021 season were being unduly harsh on Verstappen and that the Red Bull driver was being hit harder than was necessary for his driving.

“That’s the first time hearing [this],” the Australian said.

“I think referencing something a few years ago… like it sounds like people are probably hammering Max a bit.

“I don’t know, it sounds like it’s probably blown a little bit out of proportion.”

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Ricciardo, who himself has been involved in strong-armed battles with Verstappen over the years – including their time as teammates at Red Bull between 2016 and ’18 – said every driver knows what they’re up against when they come up to battle the reigning World Champion.

“No one in this sport wants to be the one that gets bullied,” he said. “You want to stand your ground against everyone. And obviously, it’s your reputation as well.

“And when people come up to you on track, you don’t want them to think, ‘Oh, this guy is going to be an easy one for me’. So you always want to have your elbows out to an extent.

“We know Max from day one has always had his out. And I think just naturally in his DNA, he is just a tough racer. So it’s not something he has to really dig deep for. That’s just how he races.

“So it’s kind of unconditional with him that you’re gonna get a tough battle. But it doesn’t necessarily maybe change the way you race him, you just know that you’re gonna have to pull off a really good move and make sure you make it stick.

“I think Lando learned that on Saturday [in the Sprint when he overtook Verstappen and the Red Bull driver came back the very next corner]. He thought he probably had it done and Max said, ‘Not today’. You live, and you learn.

“Lando made some bold moves on Sunday and had his elbows out, too and I said it was unfortunate that the outcome was what it was.”

Ricciardo, like Norris, is close friends with Verstappen following their previous partnership, and the Australian is a possibility for the seat alongside Verstappen for the rest of 2024 if Red Bull opts to demote or drop Sergio Perez at the summer break.

Given the nature of the clash between Verstappen and Norris, which had merely been a slight tap with disastrous consequences – an incident that, nine times out of 10, would have gone without any damage – Ricciardo said he doesn’t believe there is any need for any sort of intervention to address the nature of Verstappen’s tough defending.

“When I say he’s unchanged, I think the way he goes racing… obviously, he leaves it all out on the track and that’s also what a lot of fans have admired about him,” he said.

“But do I think he’s matured since the start of his career? Absolutely. It’s not like he’s finding himself in these positions all the time.

“I don’t know. I don’t think it needs any real addressing at the moment. You’re fighting for a win, and it was unfortunate. I don’t think the incident they had was dangerous.”

Referring to a collision between Verstappen and Hamilton from the 2021 British Grand Prix, which sparked headlines last week as the Dutch driver revealed he suffered from occasional blurred vision following his 51G impact with the barriers, Ricciardo said there was no comparison in the severity of incidents to warrant any interference.

“It was fairly low speed and it wasn’t like Copse in 2021, which obviously had a bit bigger consequence,” he said.

“But, if this goes on the next few races… I’m not sure if one race is enough to create a narrative of how things change kind of thing.”

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