Alex Albon thinks it’s a matter of time until Max Verstappen and Lando Norris “bang wheels” again on track.

Their battle for the lead at last month’s Austrian Grand Prix got out of hand and ended in neither of them winning the race. Norris accused Verstappen of moving under braking, which is not allowed under F1 rules, on several occasions before the collision which caused a puncture to both cars.

They said they had spoken over the phone in the days after the race and at the British Grand Prix last weekend they were much better behaved. They came across each other on track several times, Verstappen overtaking twice and Norris repaying the favour once, but without any contact.

But as long as McLaren continue to challenge Red Bull for race wins, Albon thinks there will be plenty more score for some aggressive driving between the pair of them going forward. The Williams driver said at Silverstone: “Both were going for the win, so it is going to be emotional – fighting for victory, so it will have an impact on their relationship to some degree.

“As McLaren are going to be fighting more and more for victory, I think we are going to get the same action this weekend and for the rest of the season. It is natural that when two drivers keep fighting themselves in first and second they are going to have more chances to bang wheels.

“It is aggressive racing, but I think it is blown out of proportion. The more questionable move was the first move where Max moved under braking for the first time.

“I don’t think he moved under braking on the one where they made contact. He was just more heading in a straight line than going towards the left, but the reality of it was that it was just pure, hard racing.”

Lando Norris and Max Verstappen collided in Austria which caused punctures to both cars ( 
Image:
Sky Sports)

Norris was furious after that Austria race but had calmed down by the time he reached Silverstone and said Verstappen didn’t need to apologise. McLaren chief executive Zak Brown, however, wasn’t as prepared to let it slide and told reporters including Mirror Sport that he blamed Red Bull for not reining their driver in.

The American said: “I’m disappointed in such a great team like Red Bull that the leadership almost encourages it, because you listen on the radio what was said. We all have a responsibility on pit wall to tell our drivers the dos and don’ts of what’s going on in the race, and so I think we need to have respect for regulations.

“We’ve seen there be lack of respect, whether it’s financial regulations, or sporting, on track, issues with fathers and things of that nature. I just don’t think that’s how we need to go racing. We need to guide our drivers on what’s right or wrong, and I think had it been addressed earlier, maybe that incident wouldn’t have taken place.”