Did Norris fly back with Verstappen after the race? Marko reveals

Helmut Marko is clear in his assessment of the crash between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris. Moreover, the Red Bull Racing advisor calls the behaviour Norris displayed over the team radio “ridiculous” and Marko thinks the McLaren driver’s inexperience played a role in the incident.

Marko: ‘Norris behaved ridiculously’

Marko earlier stated that the incident at the Austrian Grand Prix was ‘unnecessary’. The 81-year-old Austrian thought it was a racing incident, although he thinks Norris was slightly more to blame in this case. “It was ridiculous how Norris behaved on the radio. But these things happen and I would tick it off as a race incident, although it was rather Norris who was over the line,” Marko said in conversation with OE24.

Asked about the consequences of the friendship between the two Formula 1 drivers, Marko agrees that it did suffer a small dent: “Comments from Norris that Max should apologise don’t really help. But they will start talking to each other.” Did the drivers still fly back together in Verstappen’s private jet? “No, normally they fly together, but this time they travelled separately. So Max had a quiet return flight,” the consultant says.

Marko thinks Norris’ inexperience when it comes to battles for victory “definitely” played a role in the collision at the Red Bull Ring. McLaren and Norris thought otherwise: CEO Zak Brown and team boss Andrea Stella made scathing comments about Verstappen and did not shy away from drawing comparisons with incidents between Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton in 2021.