The Hunt/Lauda friendship example Max Verstappen and Lando Norris need to emulate

James Hunt and Niki Lauda remained friends through their title rivalry, pictured here at the championship showdown at Mount Fuji in 1976.

The friendship between James Hunt and Niki Lauda during their 1976 title fight is an example Max Verstappen and Lando Norris should take on board.

Close friends Max Verstappen and Lando Norris are facing a potential strain on their relationship this year as the pair fight for F1 wins and, perhaps, even the 2024 drivers’ championship, but a famous past rivalry sets a benchmark for how friends can face off against each other without falling out.

‘James Hunt and Niki Lauda succeeded in remaining friends’

In 1976, McLaren driver James Hunt went head to head with Ferrari’s Niki Lauda for the title, with the story of that intense year at the heart of the 2013 Hollywood movie Rush.

While rivals on track, the British and Austrian drivers had been close friends up to that point and had even lived together during their junior category days.

The nature of battle threatened to shake the foundations of their friendship but, thanks to the efforts of both men, their relationship survived the turmoil of the championship fight and they remained close until Hunt’s death of a heart attack in 1993.

Hunt’s son, racing driver Freddie Hunt, spoke to PlanetF1.com over the British Grand Prix and said he reckons, from what he’s seen, Verstappen and Norris have the ability to remain friends if they make the effort.

The two drivers clashed while fighting over the lead of the Austrian Grand Prix, with both suffering punctures – Norris retired, while Verstappen straggled home to fifth after being given a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision.

It led to Norris calling for an apology from Verstappen, with the Dutch driver’s position being that it had been a racing incident. An apology was not issued, publicly at least, but the two drivers spoke over the phone in the days following the race, and, by Silverstone, Norris’ position had softened to where he said Verstappen didn’t owe him an apology and even suggested the Dutch driver had not deserved a penalty.

Verstappen also made it very clear during his press sessions that he deeply cared about his friendship with Norris, and that was his only concern following the contentious moment.

But, with further moments of antagony likely ahead for the duo as Red Bull and McLaren vie for race victories, Hunt believes Norris and Verstappen face a stern challenge to keep their friendship intact.

“It could be, yeah,” he said when asked if the friendship could be difficult to maintain.

“I mean Dad and Niki succeeded in that. Some people think they didn’t, but only because the media misquoted them. But, once they got onto each other over the phone, they were fine and they were friends.

“When you’re racing against one another and are putting friendships aside, you still respect your friend and you don’t want to hurt him or yourself. But they probably will have to make the effort to not dislike each other if they keep racing this closely.

“I think they’re both quite wise men, I think they’re wise enough to be able to put what happens on the track stays on the track. I hope, and I think they probably are.”

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An additional factor of complication is that McLaren’s position hasn’t softened in the same way as Norris’, with team boss Andrea Stella and CEO Zak Brown still critical of the Dutch driver and his team’s handling of the incident – even after Norris had backed away from his anger.

Being wrapped up in an environment in which the team is still negative towards the driver means an additional strain that Norris will have to overcome, according to Hunt: “That would probably be very tricky not to get distracted by all that.

“I know Lando, very humbly, once he’d cooled down, said Max didn’t owe him an apology, but I think he did.

“Lando didn’t move an inch, he held the line. He did actually move over a few inches to try and get out of the way of Max but Max, essentially, piled into him.

“It was only a light touch, but it was fatal for Lando’s car, and it’s a bit sh*tty that Max still came with points, and Lando didn’t. So I thought it was a bit of a sad way to go.

“But Lando is learning a lesson about how to race against Max, as Lewis did – he’s not an easy one to race against. Max is a bloody brilliant driver, I think he could be one of the best we’ve ever seen.

“But Lando is also extremely talented and now he knows he’s got a good car under him. He’s got the fire in his belly, the bit in his teeth, and this is gonna make for a hell of a race [for the championship].”

Hunt also said Verstappen’s tactics are likely an attempt to lay down a psychological marker against his rivals, and pointed to how his World Champion father had a mental repertoire of how to treat other drivers on track.

“Max, I don’t know if he does it intentionally to try and intimidate other drivers like, ‘If you try and pass me, there’s a fair chance I’m gonna give you a kick’,” he said.

“It could well be intentional in order to intimidate other drivers. I remember my dad had mental notes for other drivers like ‘Keep out of the way of him for the first few laps until he calms down’ and ‘So and so is prone to do this if you try anything’… whether he’s done this intentionally, I don’t know, but I do know he’s just incredibly talented.

“Just watch his onboard, his steering input is just so smooth.”

For now, it’s advantage Verstappen in the Drivers’ Championship, with the Red Bull driver enjoying an 84-point lead in the standings with half of the season still to go. With a mouth-watering second half coming up, and Red Bull’s speed advantage seemingly fully negated by McLaren, Hunt said his father would likely have been thrilled with the closeness of the current rivalry between friends in a close mirroring of his own title fight.

“It’s an interesting one because Dad died long before the cars were safe. I’d describe an F1 as a very safe thing now, so it’s a difficult one,” he said.

“I know Dad would definitely want to see them racing. He’d be thrilled all the cars are close and they’re really battling it out. Dad hated nothing more than a boring race, with no overtaking or anything, so I think he’d be a big fan of how it’s going but… race with respect, race cleanly, you know?”

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