Pierre Gasly aggression "wasn't needed" in Paul Ricard battle - Lando Norris

Pierre Gasly and Lando Norris wheel to wheel in France — Photo: © LAT Images

Styrian Grand Prix

Gasly aggression "wasn't needed" in Paul Ricard battle - Norris

Norris was frustrated after a near-miss with Gasly in France

Ian Parkes & Sam Hall

Thursday 24 June 2021 19:14

Lando Norris has insisted his brush with Pierre Gasly at the French Grand Prix has been consigned to the past although maintained his belief the AlphaTauri driver's aggression had crossed the line.

During last weekend's race at Paul Ricard, Norris branded Gasly an "idiot" when he was forced off the track by the Frenchman.

Although the pair quickly dismissed the issue after the race, Norris' displeasure was still evident in the build-up to this weekend's Styrian Grand Prix.

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“After, I wasn’t too unhappy," said the McLaren driver. "I finished ahead of him so I was quite happy actually.

"It was more just at the time, and it’s the thing that many people don’t realise when you’re not actually driving the car, is you feel like a lot of the things can just not go your way and you lose an opportunity to overtake and you feel like someone or something has almost caused you to have damage.

“I almost took my front wing off and we almost made contact and things and it was a bit like, it just wasn’t needed I feel, the level of aggression he had.

“I don’t mind racing and going wheel to wheel and even a little bit of contact and whatever nowadays. It’s good fun and you grow up doing that in different categories.

"But when someone just pushes it a little bit too far and with how far he ended up off the track, it’s just...he didn’t need to go as far as he did.

“I’ve nothing against him. We had a bit of a joke after when we were doing our interviews and stuff so we’re cool and I look forward to more racing, racing with Pierre or whoever on track, just not racing which puts you out of the race.”

Gasly concedes move was "on the line"

Giving his own version of events, Gasly described the move as being "on the line" but not over it.

"You guys seem to like that battle because you keep talking about it," joked Gasly.

He added: "On the radio communication, in the heat of the moment, I think there are a lot of things that we say.

"It is like football players, if we could hear every single word they will say on the pitch between them it would probably not be as friendly.

"But it is part of racing. Hopefully, we will have more battles together this season and I enjoyed it so there was no harm for either of us and I would not mind another battle again this weekend."

Asked if he felt he had overstepped the mark with his aggression, Gasly added: "Hard racing is always you are on the line and especially driving these cars at the limit. Turn 11 was a tricky corner and it was on the edge, it was definitely on the edge.

"It was on the outside. I had to carry a lot of speed and went a bit wider than I thought but I still think it was a nice battle from inside. From the outside as well I think it was nice and it is good to let us race."