Red Bull Racing’s Alexander Albon sent the clash video of Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost to McLaren’s Lando Norris after their coming together in F1 Japanese GP.
After two weeks to ponder their F1 Japanese GP clash at Suzuka with Albon, McLaren’s Norris came to Mexico with a renewed view of the incident. After watching the video, Norris is placing the full blame on Albon, who he no longer believes was entitled to the corner.
The British racer stated that it was quite a late dive from the Red Bull driver, which led to contact in the final corner. The main change for Norris was reviewing the incident from the outside, which he feels was quite different from what he felt in the inside.
“From the outside it was very different to what I felt on the inside,” said Norris to media in Mexico. “Especially after the race, my comments were obviously very nice towards Alex just because of the situation I was in, that the brakes weren’t working properly, I was about to miss the corner a little bit or I had a slight oversteer as I was going into the corner.
“I would’ve ended up at the back. I don’t know, the situation I was in didn’t make things any better. If I was in that position properly racing – I mean, I still came on the radio, I said he pushed me off, cause he did. But when I was in the car, I thought I had a gap, which I did, and when I went in this corner he was suddenly there.
“So, I knew he came from quite a long way back, but when I was driving he was just on the inside, it was very quick how it happened, I went straight off the track, I didn’t know where he ended up. From when I was in the car, it didn’t look like he went off.
“So everything I said then was like ‘he was up the inside of me, he didn’t look like he went off from where I was sitting and so on’ but I still said what I thought happened, that he pushed me off. I didn’t even think there was any contact between us – I don’t know why. But then as soon as I watched it back, then it looked very different to how it felt.
“He came from a very long way back, the angle he came into the corner was very acute for how he was going to make it into the corner. He ended up with two wheels on the astro, and there was contact. So I think I was a bit annoyed with what was happening, the situation I was in with the brakes and everything, so I wasn’t as annoyed maybe as I what I should’ve been with what he did.
“And if that happened again, I think I’d have a different opinion, from what I said post-race of Japan, just because from the outside it was very different to what it felt like on the inside. So I was more unhappy after reviewing it, with what he did – because one, he made contact, he came from a very long way back.
“So, if I didn’t have any problems with the brakes or anything, I’m 99.9 percent sure we both would’ve crashed, possibly been out of the race. So he was kind of lucky that the situation I was in, it kind of paid off for him.”
Norris, though, conceded that this may look bad in the media now that he is changing his stance against Albon. In terms of penalty, the British racer does think that the Thai driver escaped it and if this happened again, he will certainly push for one.
In fact, Norris feels this incident was bigger than even the clash at Monza between Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, where the latter was forced off and the Monegasque was warned for his move, which created quite the debate of ‘hard racing’.
“It’s going to look terrible now in the media that I’ve gone from saying ‘fair play to him’ to now being the opposite,” noted Norris. “Being in the car, I thought fair play and the emotions got a bit the better of me considering I had the problems and everything. But after reviewing it, then I had a different opinion. I thought it was too aggressive.
“He quite easily forced his way through, and if I didn’t have the problem we both could’ve crashed. So I think he got very lucky, and it didn’t look as bad as what it would’ve been if I didn’t have the problem with my brakes. I think we both would’ve crashed, we both would’ve been probably out of the race.
“If that were to happen again, I want to say he’d get a penalty, or he should’ve got a penalty. I think, this one was too far basically. I think the Monza [between Leclerc and Hamilton] one was on the edge, maybe didn’t agree with it completely, cause Lewis was effectively forced off the track.
“So that was a bit more on the edge in my opinion, but this one was a bit too far. So, perfectly in the middle, I think there’s a good range, a good amount of possibilities in how you can overtake, how close you can be, and so on – so I agree with what they’re trying to do, and I think it was fine.
“But I think they have to be sure that they don’t overdo it and let too many things happen without there being a penalty and so on.” The pair, however, have maintained a good relationship and stay friends, leaving on-track disputes on-track, even being able to laugh about the incident over social media.
Norris did have a chat with Albon post-race and he revealed that the Red Bull racer sent him a video of a near-identical crash from 1989 Japanese GP between the then McLaren teammates Senna and Prost, when their title fight boiled over.
Norris took himself as Prost and Albon as Senna. “We’re good friends, he sent me the video of Senna and Prost in Japan and I think that was the perfect example of how it probably would’ve ended,” said Norris. “I would’ve been Prost, he would’ve been Senna.
“He should’ve got a penalty. Even Japan, I think he should’ve got a penalty. If he was a bit more alongside me, he wasn’t coming in at quite the angle he was coming in at, and he made the corner that he did, then I think it would’ve been fair.
“If I had just squeezed him a little bit or something. But considering he came from where he did, the angle he was coming at – I was coming in like this and he came pretty alongside, not rotated for the corner or anything. Now I say he should’ve got a penalty.”
Here’s what Alexander Albon stated after the grand prix
FIA notes circuit changes for F1 Mexico GP, adds third DRS zone
The story was written by Duncan Leahy and edited by Darshan Chokhani