World champion passes harsh verdict on Verstappen-Norris clash in Austria

Former Formula 1 driver and 2009 world champion Jenson Button has passed a harsh verdict on the incident between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris during last weekend's Austrian Grand Prix. Button spoke with Sky Sports on the matter.

During the closing stages of the Austrian Grand Prix, Verstappen and Norris fought very hard for victory. Eventually, the two drivers came together and both suffered a flat tyre. After a brief stop in the pits, Verstappen was able to continue his race and come home in fifth place with a bonus point for the fastest lap in the race. Norris did not make it to the end of the race and saw his race end in a DNF.

After the race lots was said by both drivers and their respective fanbases. Speaking to Radio X on Wednesday, it looks like Norris and Verstappen spoke with eachother after the incident and tensions seem to have cooled down a lot.

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Button gives his verdict

Asked about the crash by Sky Sports, Button told his view of the incident between the Red Bull and McLaren driver at the Red Bull Ring. "There's a lot of talk about Max and him moving in the braking zone and should he have had a bigger penalty than he had. Might be controversial but I don't think he should have. I think that when he braked, he slightly went to the left. Sometimes that happens, you'll be looking to the right, and you might move to the left a little bit", Button said.

"I think he moved to the left because Lando was there, which is the issue and that's why he got a 10-second penalty. Lando also could have moved to the left, there was a lot more circuit to go and avoided the contact. Something very similar happened in 2023, last year in Austria, exactly the same corner and it was Carlos Sainz on the inside and Max was stepping on the outside", Button added.

"Carlos moves to the left exactly like Max does and Max moves a little bit with him, follows him to the left, runs on the curb and they don't make contact. So, it's hard racing. Yeah, sometimes it goes wrong, and we talk about it for a long time after. But it's great that we're talking about it because these two are going to be fighting for years to come I think", the Briton continued.

"I think Max in the past has been a bit overaggressive especially against Lewis. I don't feel it's that same way with Lando at the moment. Obviously if they went a step further it would be but yeah, i mean drivers never used to come on the radio and go, 'oh he pushed off, oh he cut me off here, oh he did this' but they do it because they know it's a reaction that the stewards will hear and hopefully do something about it because they have done in the past. Same with Andreas, it's because he knows it could get a reaction and it could change the result", the 2009 F1 world champion concluded.