FURIOUS Daniel Ricciardo described Max Verstappen’s driving as “amateur” after he was taken out of the Hungarian Grand Prix by his Red Bull team-mate.
Verstappen ran wide at turn one on the opening lap and as he attempted to stay ahead of Ricciardo at the ensuing corner, locked his brakes and crashed into his team-mate.
The force of the impact tore through Ricciardo’s Red Bull bodywork and into his radiator. The Australian spun on his own fluid before grinding to a halt.
Ricciardo said over the team radio: “Was that who I think it was?”
“Yes,’’ his Red Bull team replied.
“F****** sore loser,” Ricciardo responded.
Then, as Verstappen drove past on the second lap, Ricciardo flipped his middle finger in the direction of the 19-year-old teenager. Verstappen was handed a 10-second penalty for the incident and hit with two points on his superlicence.
“It was amateur to say the least,’’ said Ricciardo, who started sixth, one place behind Verstappen. “There was no room to pass. Valtteri Bottas was in front and I was on the outside so there was no room. I don’t think he likes it when a team-mate gets in front.
"You’ve got the whole race to try and repair the mistake but the pass was never on. It wasn’t even a pass, it was a very poor mistake. There isn’t an excuse for it. He tried to go round the outside at turn one and all of a sudden what was a good start is a bad start.
“He sees me go past and thinks, ‘I’ve got to fix this’, and then we crashed,” Ricciardo added.Verstappen, who survived the incident without any damage to his Red Bull, finished fifth before issuing an apology to Ricciardo and his Red Bull team.
Reflecting on Ricciardo’s remarks, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said: “You take your helmet off after you have just been eliminated from a grand prix and you are not going to say ‘whoops’.
“Daniel was really revved-up after, but with an hour to calm down it is now, what I would describe, as a normal situation.”
Horner added that he had warned both of his drivers about their opening-lap conduct because Dietrich Mateschitz, the billionaire founder of Red Bull, was at the Hungaroring.
“We discussed the first lap, and I said to both of them, ‘You are starting next to each other so please give each other enough room. Dietrich is here this afternoon, too.’ “Both drivers nodded in agreement but as soon as the red light goes out, a lot of that goes out the window.
“It was inevitable they were going to crash at some stage, but the most important thing is how the individuals have dealt with it. Max has been mature enough to hold his hand up and admit that he made a mistake. There was no intent in it. It was just frustrating.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here