At the Chinese Grand Prix, Max Verstappen was handed a 10-second penalty for causing an accident with Sebastian Vettel. And this time, he admitted it was his mistake.
In the season’s second race, Verstappen had a similar contact with Lewis Hamilton when trying to overtake the world champion. The contact with Mercedes sent him to early retirement due to a tyre puncture, and a damaged differential.
This time, the Red Bull driver was on fresh tyres and was trying hard to overcome Vettel to claim the third place. In lap 43, he made a late move on Ferrari and caused both the cars to spin 180 degrees on the track. The clash looked like synchronised car dance.
The race stewards reviewed the footage and found Verstappen at fault and handed him a 10-second penalty.
If only the Dutchman had not been in such a hurry, he would have got a podium as most of the front runners were on old tyres and were struggling to find a good grip.
Verstappen ended the race at fourth but got demoted to fifth due to the penalty.
After the race, Verstappen admitted it was his fault.
“I could see he was struggling on the tyres and tried to brake late in the corners,” said the Red Bull driver. “I locked the rears and hit him – it was, of course, my fault. Not what I want.
“It is easy to say after I should have waited, and that probably would have been the best idea, but unfortunately it happened.”
Many experienced drivers have spoken about Verstappen’s driving and have suggested him to tone down his aggression.
When asked if he will change his aggressive driving style, he said: “It is easy to comment. At the moment it is not going the way I like of course, but does it mean I have to calm down? I don’t think so.
“It is very unfortunate those things happening and I need to analyse everything and try to come back stronger for the next races.”
Vettel and Verstappen had a private talk in the post-race parc ferme where the German expressed his displeasure at the incident which sent him further down the finishing order.
“I didn’t see him until very late,” said Vettel. “I left a little bit of room as well. To be honest, I was expecting him to come earlier.
“I had no intention to resist him because I saw with Daniel [Ricciardo] as well there was no point in doing so. They were just too fast on the fresh tyres.
“So I didn’t want to compromise my race to the guys behind. But he made a mistake, he locked up, which happened. I guess he misjudged and sort of compromised both our results.”
When reporters asked if Verstappen needs to reduce his aggression on the track, the Ferrari driver said: “He has done enough races, but this can happen to also if you have done 300 races.
“You mustn’t forget that inside the car the judgements are very difficult to make but you have to ultimately have these things in mind and make sure you don’t crash.
“He could easily have taken his front wing off or have a puncture. So we were both lucky.”
Back to toro roso wee man! where all the Vettel fans that thot it was funny when he done the same to Lewis?????????
Naughty boy Max ⛔️