Coulthard: ‘Hell will freeze over’ before Verstappen apologizes

Anyone expecting Max Verstappen to apologise to Lando Norris for his aggressive driving in the Austrian Grand Prix, as the McLaren driver suggested he should do, must not hold their breath insists F1 commentator David Coulthard.

The dust has yet to settle after Sunday’s titanic on-track spat between Verstappen and Norris. The pair locked horns in a thrilling battle that unfolded in the closing stages of the race at the Red Bull Ring.

But on lap 64 of 71, the pair came to blows at the tight, uphill Turn 3 hairpin where they made contact and took each other out of the race.

The incident resulted in a 10-second penalty and two penalty points for Verstappen, who was deemed primarily responsible for the crash by the FIA stewards in Austria.

Norris, forced to retire due to the damage, declared he would "lose a lot of respect" for Verstappen if an apology wasn't offered at some point by the Dutchman.

• Read also: Verstappen denies ‘moving under braking’ during Norris duel

However, Coulthard believes an admission of wrongdoing by the three-time world champion is a long shot.

“Hell freezing over, I think is the expression,” the firmer F1 driver told Britain’s Channel 4 when the prospect was put to him of Verstappen apologising to Norris for their contact.

“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.”

Coulthard reckoned that the run-in between the two drivers was avoidable, for both. While Verstappen’s driving was sanctioned by the stewards, Coulthard acknowledged Verstappen's perspective as a hard-nosed racer who won't back down easily.

“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,” the Scot explained.

“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.

“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.”

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