FIA Race Director Amends Rules Following Intense Verstappen-Norris Encounter
In a heart-stopping moment at the Austrian Grand Prix, Lando Norris and Max Verstappen narrowly avoided a collision during FP2 at the Red Bull Ring. The incident occurred as Norris sped towards Verstappen, who was on a slow lap and positioned to the left of the track between Turns 1 and 3. Verstappen, clearly surprised, exclaimed over the team radio, “What the hell? Just drives on the left.”
The FIA stewards initially saw no need for an investigation into the incident. However, FIA race director Rui Marques has since updated the event notes, calling for drivers to “clearly move” to the right-hand side of the track in that area during qualifying to prevent a similar situation from happening again. The amended rule states, “Additionally, during Qualifying, drivers making way for faster cars between Turn 1 and Turn 3 must clearly move to the far right hand side of the track.”
Norris, who topped two out of three practice sessions in Spielberg, entered qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix with strong momentum. Despite McLaren junior Alex Dunne impressing in FP1, Norris dominated the timesheets in FP2 and extended his advantage in FP3, outpacing his teammate Oscar Piastri by 0.118 seconds. Verstappen, a five-time winner at the Red Bull Ring, trailed in third place, 0.210 seconds behind.
In the current F1 2025 season, Piastri leads the Drivers’ standings by 22 points, securing victory in half of the races so far. Norris has claimed two wins in Australia and Monaco, while Verstappen (Japan, Emilia Romagna) and George Russell (Canada) are the only other drivers to have tasted victory in this competitive season.
