Helmut Marko has aimed a public dig at Lando Norris following his tangle with Max Verstappen at the Austrian Grand Prix. The McLaren driver saw his race ruined when Verstappen took him out while they were battling for the lead, allowing George Russell to claim a surprise victory.

Norris made a late move on his rival, who led for the majority of the race, but was tagged by Verstappen when the Dutchman moved under braking. Both drivers suffered punctures but Norris came off worse and was forced to retire, while Verstappen finished fifth despite receiving a 10-second penalty.

The Red Bull driver was widely blamed for causing the collision, with Norris left frustrated by what he thought was a step too far. After the race, he demanded an apology and suggested that he would lose respect for Verstappen if he failed to admit that he was at fault.

“If he says he did nothing wrong, then I’ll lose a lot of respect for that,” said Norris. “If he admits to being a bit stupid and running into me and being a bit reckless in a way, then I’ll lose a small amount of respect for him, but it’s still a tough one to take when you’re fighting for the win.”

Marko has since branded Norris ‘pathetic’ over his reaction to the collision, with the Red Bull advisor claiming that it should have gone down as a racing incident.

He told OE24: “It was pathetic how Norris behaved on the radio. But these things happen and I would write it off as a racing accident, although Norris probably went beyond his limits. Norris’ comment that Max should apologise does not really help.

“They will meet for a chat. They normally fly together but this time they travelled separately, so Max had a quiet return flight.”

Verstappen has already confirmed that he will sit down with Norris for clear-the-air talks, with the pair having been good friends until their collision at the Red Bull Ring.

“We’ll talk about it,” said Verstappen in his post-race press conference. “Not now, I think it’s not the right time, but you know, we’re racing drivers. Of course, Lando and I have a little age gap.

“That’s why we never really raced against each other in lower categories compared to some other drivers here. We’ll move on from it.”