The F1 season has truly kicked into life in recent weeks, and the first major flashpoint came in Sunday's Austrian Grand Prix.
It's clear for everyone to see that the closing pack has closed in on Red Bull this season, with Max Verstappen enjoying nothing like the dominance that he did during the 2023 season.
Carlos Sainz, Charles Leclerc, and Lando Norris had all won races coming into Sunday's race in Styria, with Norris putting plenty of pressure on Verstappen for several other race wins.
They would be reunited on track on Sunday in a thrilling and tempestuous battle for the lead in the closing laps, before disaster struck.
It's a 10 SECOND PENALTY for Max Verstappen for causing a collision with Lando Norris! ⏱⚠ pic.twitter.com/zf0eHYl5mY
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) June 30, 2024
The merest of touches but it proved catastrophic, with Verstappen taking a ten-second penalty and falling to fifth after coming to the pits to replace his punctured tyres. For Norris, it was the end of his race.
George Russell would go on to take his first win of the season, but the days since have been defined by a dissection of the controversial lap 64 incident between the two drivers at the top of the championship standings.
Verstappen took the stewards' punishment for the incident, and most F1 pundits have found the Dutchman marginally to blame for the crash.
However, Irishman Eddie Jordan has given his two cents on the controversy - and he not only said that he thought the crash was a racing incident, but that Norris had much to learn from it.
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F1: Eddie Jordan says Lando Norris must learn from Max Verstappen crash
Former F1 team owner Eddie Jordan analysed the race-defining incident of the Austrian Grand Prix alongside David Coulthard on the pair's Formula for Success podcast.
Jordan gave an unexpected take on the Verstappen-Norris collision, pushing back against the criticism three-time F1 champion Verstappen has faced in recent days.
EJ argued that Norris was yet to learn how to properly engage in battle with rival at the front of the field, and argued that Verstappen had the right of way coming into the corner.
There's a lot of people on the bandwagon criticising Max for this, that and the other.
I would say just one thing - he's a young boy, Lando. He is an incredible talent and will be in the future. But one thing he has to learn, and that yesterday will have taught him, is that Max is a fighter, he's a bear. Before you get in the ring with a bear, you make sure you're prepared for it.
The actual incident itself could have been so easily avoided...I fail to understand why he [Max] got the 10-second penalty.
When you're defending and you're in the lead, it's no different to the road rules. The person in front has the right of way, he has propelled himself to the front through qualifiyng or guile or racing speed - he's leading the Grand Prix. The guy behind has to find a way around it.
In my opinion, the two drivers touched each other at a place where, for example, Max has the ability to dive into the right hand-side and naturally, to make the corner, he has to move slightly over to the left to actually get the traction to exit the corner in a proper, fashionable way.
I see it as a racing incident. I fail to see it [the penalty].
Known for an outspoken opinion or two during his time as a pundit with the BBC, Eddie Jordan has certainly gone against the grain with his take on the hot topic in F1.
There is little time to wait for the pair to re-engage in battle, with the British Grand Prix fast approaching at Silverstone this weekend.
In the pre-race press conference on Thursday, Norris was asked if he and Verstappen had spoken about the incident in the days after the Austrian GP, and whether the Dutchman had apologised.
Home favourite Norris said that he had not received an apology - but that the pair had indeed spoken, and that he did not feel as though he was owed an apology.
The British Grand Prix gets underway this Sunday at 3pm, live on Sky Sports F1 and Channel 4.
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