Stella: Verstappen's aggressive driving lacks accountability after Austria GP collision
Red Bull Racing/Red Bull Content Pool
Verstappen's driving style under scrutiny after Austrian Grand Prix collision.
Spielberg, Austria — McLaren's team principal, Andrea Stella, has expressed his dissatisfaction with the lack of stringent penalties for Max Verstappen's driving style. This follows a controversial collision between Lando Norris and Verstappen during the Austrian Grand Prix, which ultimately allowed George Russell to capitalize and secure victory.
The incident occurred at the Red Bull Ring, where both drivers suffered punctures as a result of the contact. Although the stewards slapped Verstappen with a 10-second penalty for his role in the collision, Stella believes that the incident could have been avoided had Verstappen faced harsher punishments earlier in his career.
"The entire population of the world knows who was responsible except for a group of people," stated Stella.
Stella's comments point to Verstappen's past on-track skirmishes, notably during his title battle with Lewis Hamilton in 2021. "If you don't address these things honestly, they will come back. They weren't addressed properly in the past when there were fights with Lewis that needed to be punished in a harsher way," he remarked. "Like this, you learn how to race in a certain way."
When asked if he was alluding specifically to the heated 2021 Brazilian Grand Prix, where Verstappen pushed Hamilton off the track yet faced no penalty, Stella responded, "There were many episodes."
Stella emphasized the need for respect and adherence to racing regulations: "We have so much respect for Red Bull, and for Max, that they don't need to do this. Almost compromise your reputation? Why would you do that?"
He called on the FIA to re-examine and enforce their racing rules more effectively. "The stewards found Max was fully to blame in this episode. It's not about racing in a driver's way. It's about driving within the regulations. When a car is out of the race as a consequence, then the punishment needs to be proportionate to the outcome."
Stella further stressed that Verstappen’s driving during braking was problematic, "Before this episode, twice he moved in braking. It is evident that we have to enforce the way to go racing."
Stella underscored the necessity for the FIA to clamp down on such actions to prevent future escalations. "In every kind of human dynamics, if you don't address things, as soon as you introduce competition, as soon as you introduce a sense of injustice, these things escalate. It's like anything."
He concluded by lamenting the points lost and the missed opportunity for Norris, "For us, there's a lot of points gone. And a victory which I think Lando deserved to have the opportunity to have. It could have been Max, it could have been Lando. That's racing. But racing like with collisions, we don't like it."
As the sport looks ahead, Stella's comments are likely to fuel debates on driving standards and the enforcement of regulations, ensuring fairer and safer racing in the future.
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