Norris admits he ‘c***ped himself’ at Austrian GP as he shares Verstappen view

Lando Norris revealed he “c***ped himself” as he shared his track limits concerns alongside Max Verstappen. The McLaren driver will start P4 for Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix after an excellent qualifying on Friday. 

However, Norris feels he could have been ahead of former team-mate Carlos Sainz if it wasn’t down to track limits issues. The Briton said it was “difficult to commit” as a host of drivers were caught out by tough stewarding from race officials.

Norris told Sky Sports F1: “I’m a driver, so I’m always complaining, because I could have been P3, I made a little mistake. It’s difficult to commit, the last corner is very tricky because you’re kind of on the entry curb, which makes the car very nervous and I just missed the apex by a little bit.

“I just c***ped myself, I thought I did track limits and I just had to back out of it. So it definitely cost me P3, which I’m a bit annoyed by because I would have loved to be Carlos, but happy with P4.”

Several drivers were caught out by track limits concerns in Q2 with George Russell and Sergio Perez knocked out after falling foul of the rules. Verstappen even took to team radio to attack the policy after he had his first lap in Q2 deleted.

After the session, the reigning champion called out the strict policing despite taking pole. Verstappen explained: “It’s very difficult because of the track limits. We don’t do it on purpose but with these speeds and the high-speed corners it’s so hard to judge the white line.

“We could see today that a lot of people get out. It was about surviving, even Q3 you just want the banker lap, it takes out the joy a little bit. It’s always very tricky around here and the cars are big and heavy. Judging it on a line this wide (very small), with these speeds are very high.”

Perez was furious after suffering a fourth successive Q2 elimination on Friday. The Mexican was warned by Red Bull engineers not to cross the line at turn nine but the 33-year-old dipped a wheel over the exit as he completed his final run. 

However, Perez hinted rules needed to be changed as he pointed the blame at Williams’ Alex Albon. He commented: “On my final lap I found I think Albon and I just went straight, I could not stop. I think I lost a tenth or a bit more than that just going straight but the stewards wouldn’t consider that I was blocked.

“There are so many things I can control but unfortunately this one – you are closing a good lap and all of a sudden you are blocked and you have a penalty. I think the system is wrong.”