'Hell will freeze over' before Max Verstappen apologises to Lando Norris for the F1 Austrian GP clash claims F1 pundit

F1 pundit David Coulthard feels that 'hell will freeze over' before Max Verstappen apologizes to Lando Norris for the Austrian GP clash. The race in Austria was a very intriguing one, as it saw a battle for the win between the Red Bull and the McLaren driver.

This was a bit unexpected, as earlier in the race, Max Verstappen completely outpaced Lando Norris, who struggled to keep up with the Dutch driver. When the two drivers came into the pits after the second stint, the Red Bull pitstop delay, coupled with Lando also pitting the same lap, meant that both drivers were separated by a couple of seconds.

What then ensued was a battle with Max Verstappen trying to hold off Lando Norris, and some of Verstappen's defense included questionable moves like moving under braking. It all ended in tears when the two drivers collided at the turn 3 braking point. Lando would suffer a DNF while Max would hobble home in P5.

After the race, Lando Norris said that he was expecting Max Verstappen to own up to his mistake or else he'd lose the McLaren driver's respect. Talking about expecting an apology, former Red Bull driver David Coulthard said that 'hell will freeze over' before Max apologizes. Talking to Channel 4, he said (via PlanetF1),

“Hell freezing over, I think is the expression. Max is going to go ‘I was racing – it’s hard racing.’ This is the first time Lando is experiencing going wheel to wheel really on a weekend in, weekend out basis. We know how it was when it was Lewis who was going wheel to wheel with Max. Max is one of the hardest racers, to beat him you’ve got to match him.”

He added,

“There was that contact as they enter the corner, further contact once they’ve gone through the apex, both of them with punctures and damage – avoidable incidents from both, it’s cost them both finishing the race.”

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Max Verstappen apportioned more of the blame by Coulthard

David Coulthard apportioned more of the blame to Max Verstappen in the clash, as he pointed out how the Red Bull driver would veer towards left and that ended up causing the collision with Lando Norris. Emphasizing what the McLaren driver might be complaining about, Coulthard said,

“This will be the thing that Lando is complaining about, just at that final part of the entry to the corner, that Max is continuing to come over to the left and he’ll claim ‘he squeezed me and you’re not allowed to do that under braking.’ Look, he’s definitely crowded Lando across the track. If there was a barrier there, then they both would have sort of ricocheted off it."

He added,

“I completely get Max will say ‘Well, hold on a minute, he could have gone further over the kerb’, but the stewards have looked at it, they’ve got more information, they’ve given a penalty to Max. Ultimately, it doesn’t make a difference to where he finished in the race.”

This is just the beginning of the Max Verstappen-Lando Norris rivalry and will only intensify from here. The next race is in Silverstone, and it will be interesting to see what kind of atmosphere greets Max at Lando's home race.