Champion Verstappen comes under fire after Norris collision in Austria

World championship leader Max Verstappen has drawn criticism for his conduct on track after he crashed with title rival Lando Norris in the Austrian Grand Prix while vying for the lead.

The Dutchman, who had held off an attempt from Norris to pass in the Sprint Race on Saturday too, was accused of twice moving under braking to block off the McLaren - a move frowned upon in the sport - before he squeezed the Brit at Turn 3 forcing the pair to collide. The crash caused the Red Bull Racing man to pit from the lead with a puncture, while the McLaren driver was forced out of the race as a result of the damage.

Verstappen was given a 10-second penalty for his misdemeanour, which mattered little as he emerged from the pits in fifth nearly 20 seconds clear of of Nico Hulkenberg in sixth, picking up 10 points to extend his lead over Norris.

Afterwards though, the Red Bull man was criticised by several in the paddock for his driving standards while others try to pass him - with McLaren boss Andrea Stella citing his moves in the controversial 2021 season, and ex-F1 driver Martin Brundle saying it was a hark back to the ‘old Max’ from previous years.

Verstappen though felt Norris was equally to blame for the collision, having failed in previous attempts to overtake earlier in the battle.

“We were battling today and Lando tried to move around the outside, and then we touched with the rear tyres,” he said. “It was very hot so immediately we had a puncture.

“From my side it seemed like a weird move but we obviously need to review this and of course we will talk about it. The shape of the corner also provides these kinds of issues sometimes and it is never nice to come together.”

The crash handed victory to Mercedes’ George Russell, and Norris’ elimination promoted Sergio Perez to seventh, unable to pass the Haas of Hulkenberg in the latter stages.

“It is very disappointing to be in this position.” said the Mexican. “The race started really well and we had a solid start, but then I picked up some damage on Lap 1 and the car struggled and was sliding so it was very difficult to fight towards the front.

“With the damage, I was off balance and made a mistake going into the pitlane and got a 5 second time penalty which hindered us towards the end of the race.”