Alex Albon recently revealed how Max Verstappen and Lando Norris were not on the same private jet when they left Austria after their intense on-track battle. He also talked about how drivers had a private jet group chat where they coordinate who flies with whom.

Both Verstappen and Norris were racing hard against each other for the race win in the latter stages of the Austrian GP. On several occasions, the McLaren driver overtook Verstappen with his fresher medium tire, but the latter regained the lead.

Their intense wheel-to-wheel battle was so close that it eventually resulted in a collision on Turn 3 in Lap 64. Though this collision was mild, it punctured both their cars. While Max Verstappen pitted for fresh tires, Lando Norris was forced to retire from the race due to damage to other sections of his car.

After the race, drivers usually take their private jets to either head home for a week’s break or go to another track for another race.

Speaking to Cosmopolitan UK on YouTube, the Williams driver revealed that all 20 F1 drivers also have a private jet group chat in which they decide who flies with whom after a race. He touched on how drivers could change their flights according to their recent on-track tussles with each other.

“There is also a private group chat which is like…drivers sharing plane. I wonder how it works because a lot of our managers are involved in it. And if a driver has a bad race, or a driver crashes into another driver, and they are on the same plane…does that driver then go to another driver’s plane and fly with another group of drivers? Who knows?” Albon said. (8:09)

Alex Albon then recalled how, after the Austrian GP, he was on a flight with Lando Norris, Carlos Sainz, and Daniel Ricciardo. However, Norris’s good friend Max Verstappen was not on the plane with them.

“Last Sunday, I was on the flight with Lando, Carlos, and Daniel. But Max was not on our flight. They were never supposed to be flying together,” he added.

Lando Norris reflects on his reaction after colliding with Max Verstappen at the Austrian GP

Lando Norris recently recalled his incident with Max Verstappen at the 2024 F1 Austrian GP. Speaking in the press conference before the British GP, he said that there was no need for the Red Bull driver to apologize to him. The McLaren driver added that he also did not believe in some of the comments he made in the heat of the moment.

“Honestly, I don’t think he needed to apologise. I think some of the things I said in the pen after the race were just more just because I was frustrated at the time. A lot of adrenaline, a lot of just emotions. And I probably said some things I didn’t necessarily believe in, especially later on in the week. It was tough,” Norris said.

After the British GP, Max Verstappen continues to lead the drivers’ championship table with 255 points, while Lando Norris is in second place with 171 points. The Dutchman finished second at the British GP behind Lewis Hamilton.