Verstappen apologises for Ricciardo clash but collects penalty points

2017 Hungarian Grand Prix

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Max Verstappen has apologised after taking his team mate out on the first lap of the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Verstappen was given two penalty points on his licence and received a ten-second time penalty after hitting Daniel Ricciardo at turn two. He now has three penalty points on his licence.

Verstappen accepted blame for the collision, saying “of course it’s not what you want.”

“I think everything started in turn one. The start was actually quite good but then I got a bit squeezed wide with Bottas, I lost quite a bit of speed.”

“Then we were both fighting for position in turn two so we braked quite deep into the corner but then I had a car in front of me so I locked the front and from there on I was just a passenger.”

“I was trying to avoid Daniel of course but unfortunately that was not possible. Of course’ it’s never my intention to hit anyone but especially not your team mate, and especially with the relationship I have with Daniel it’s always very good, we can always have a laugh. This is not nice.”

“So I apologise to Daniel for that and also to the team because we could have scored some good points here. But I will speak to Daniel in private and we’ll sort it out.”

The stewards said they “reviewed multiple angles of video and determined that Verstappen carried too much speed into the entry of turn two, locked up the left front tyre and understeered on full lock and consequently hit Riccardo.”

“The stewards considered that Verstappen was wholly to blame for the collision. The stewards compared this incident with other first lap incidents this season and applied a ten second time penalty.”

Ricciardo was unimpressed with his team mate’s driving. “It’s not like he was trying to pass, there was no room, Valtteri was in front, I was on the outside, so there’s no room.”

“I don’t think he likes, obviously, when his team mate gets in front of him.”

2017 Hungarian Grand Prix

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    Keith Collantine
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    143 comments on “Verstappen apologises for Ricciardo clash but collects penalty points”

    1. Selfish man was a disgrace to do that to his team mate who was looking at another good points result
      Maybe the max factor of 2016 is over now just disparate to show something in 2017

    2. Verstappen is terrible in situations where a driver behind is quicker, he does dirty blocks, this one caught him out again as the dirty blocker – it was invevitable he would contact sooner or later, and to take his own team mate out of the race is ridiculous. Ricciardo could have challenged the Ferraris/Mercedes. I don’t understand why it wasn’t a stop/go penalty, and instead only a 10 second penalty.

      1. It’s not just that he’s a first lap nutcase, before today he never took responsibility for continuing to crash into people, and thus has never learned his lesson. Hopefully he matures and calms down soon because he keeps ruining the races of much better drivers

        1. He is the one
          31st July 2017, 22:37

          First car in 2.5 season he took out of the race. Some of the remarks about Verstappen are so ridiculous. Ooh Guy’s look he made a mistake, i told you so this should happening, Lets gi bashing MV, all our hate agains him, release it. Yes MV is terrible and he everything from behind or devices. hopefully we don’t have to wait another 2.5 season before he take somebody out the race

    3. Surprisingly tough stance from stewards considering their leniency towards Bottas in Spanish GP

      1. A motorsports fan
        30th July 2017, 16:45

        exactly. I can’t remember Max psychoanalysing nor fulminating at Bottas either – who isn’t even his teammate.

        Max made a bad mistake and took Ricciardo out. Ricciardo reacted like an amateur – filling in what Max must have been thinking, gave him the finger whilst walking down the track. Childish behavior from Ricciardo.

        1. Fan if you were Ric how would you react?

        2. Motorsports fan, you are completely wright. The way Ricciardo reacts is not team mate like, the kind of language he is using against his team mate is that of an amateur. It is in the same way as in 2016 after the Monaco GP when accused his team of screwing him.

      2. Surprisingly tough stance. I was starting to wonder what he had to do to get a penalty. Answer, to be in front of Lewis, I’m sure RB didn’t want a penalty at all. At least he put up a nice apology, nice stance from Max.
        @addvariety @paeschli @rocketpanda Amateur is the right word, it was a f2 type move. Had it been Kvyat or any below par driver they would have got called worse names and get more of a penalty.

        1. A motorsports fan
          30th July 2017, 17:08

          amateur is not the right word. an amateur is someone who is not at a professional level. A professional who makes a mistake is a professional who makes a mistake. All F1 drivers make mistakes – each F1 weekend is full of them.

        2. You can’t get more than 10 seconds (besides disqualification).
          I’m sure you are a F1 pro (…), but I think Max is one too.

          1. In motorsport you can get a drive through, a stop and go, and a stop and go with 10 seconds penalty. I’m not sure what’s in current F1 regulations, but for sure Vettel took the last one in Baku.

            1. @Hank 10 seconds is probably the second least severe penalty that could be applied. Only a five second time penalty would be softer. A ten second stop-go penalty is the harshest other than a DQ but that’s not what Max got.

              So Max did get off pretty light. I’d be careful about making sarcastic smart Alec comments on this forum when you’re wrong…

              You’ll look very foolish – F1 pro

      3. Bot and Ric have history of being and fair and clean drivers with 0 penalties , Mad Max on the other hand has touched up nearly every driver on the grid and has poor history with the stewarts..not surprised feel sorry for Ric

        1. That’s not right Bogaaaa, it fans like yu that gave him that image.
          Verstappen is among the cleanest drivers on the grid, yes he had some incident, but always one-sided, this was actually the first time Max was to blame for an another driver to DNF.

          You’re right though about the history with the stewards… Alons could hit Giovenazzi in the very same way with no penaly, Bottas took 3 drivers out in two incidents this year (Spain and Baku) and got away with it.

          1. Sorry Matn has ruffled most drivers feathers on the grid with his over aggressive driving..

          2. Guybrush Threepwood
            31st July 2017, 8:16

            Try telling that to Grosjean. Regardless of DNFs, Max has ruined many drivers races through high risk moves that have resulted in contact.

            1. That’s what racing should be about, you guys seem stuck in DRS mode, racing always should be near the edge and Verstappen usually is… To whine he ruined others races is like being a sour loser… then learn to race.

              Grosjean may be hit in Monaco, but didn’t have any damage, nor lost a place… he could proceed like nothing happenend. Btw there has been an awefull lot of discussion about who really was to blame for that incident.
              Evenso if it was Max, he was the only one with damage.

              Try and check Vettel’s or Hamilton incidents over the last 2,5 year… they easily double or triple the ampount of incidents

            2. @Matn Choosing to defend Verstappen’s antics is your prerogative. Needless to say, if you have no issue with Verstappen, then you shouldn’t have issue with Maldonado’s driving style either. Both being overly aggressive and reckless.

    4. Ben (@chookie6018)
      30th July 2017, 15:48

      As harsh as Ricciardo was with the term “amateur”, He’s just speaking the truth. A very poor mistake from Max has cost Red Bull severely today. I hate to imagine what people would have said had this been someone like Palmer creating the incident.

      1. @chookie6018 As a Verstappen fan I fully agree. Amateur is not the right word, but “awfully misjudged” and “completely unnecessary” are.

        1. @addvariety amateur-ish might work

      2. I’m sure Ricciardo never made a mistake on the first lap…

        1. RIC has the fewest penalty points of all drivers on the grid (zero).
          Everyone makes mistakes once in awhile, Max and Kvyat make too many.

          1. Why dont you add Bottas and Vettel to your list?

            1. Bottas was twice cleared (spain and Baku) because it was deemed a racing incident. That means all participating drivers were equally to blame.

              Verstappen took a big risk by overtaking 2 cars around the outside of T1 at Barcelona for example, while Kimi took a big risk by squeezing Bottas on the apex. Vallteri then understeered into Kimi and all three had contact. All three took risks and all three are equally to blame=racing incident.

              Vettel had an idiotic moment in Baku and was subsequently penalized. Verstappen made an honest mistake here and was penalized as well. Both imho should have been given a harsher penalty but that’s neither here nor there now. I think the stewards did a good job in all these incidents.

        2. @paeschli That’s not the point. You’re saying that everyone who has ever made a mistake on the first lap isn’t allowed to point out other’s mistakes? If you’d put that logic into everyday life, it would be a difficult world for you. ;)

        3. @paeschli the word ‘Mistake’ has a very broad spectrum in F1… driving into your team who just overtook you and then trashing his car in a desperate move.. is in the top end of the spectrum..and NO Ric has never done that…Max got his just deserves!!!

      3. Probably just the adrenaline, but not exactly classy. I’ve Hamilton more politely when Rosberg deliberately tried to crash Ham out of the race. Ricciardo saw the replay, both breaked at the same time, Verstappen breaked to hard trying not to crash, at that about sums it up. Stupid mistake, penalty worthy, but it’s also racing.

        It’s a shame that similar offences today and in the past haven’t been penalised though.

        1. @montalvo Adenaline exactly, but that shouldn’t be a problem. Every driver reacts differently. We have the extremely explosive Montoya, J. Villeneuve where Vettel and Grosjean sometimes are not far off from. Then we have the extremely composed ones such as Hamilton and Bottas. Both are fine and everything in between. I feel there’s too much of a focus on what a driver is and especially isn’t allowed to do and reacting like this is one of them.

          As I’ve said above as well, I’m a Verstappen fan, but Ricciardo is 100% correct (apart from the word amateur) and I still rate him highly. I do feel the stewards haven’t penalised heavier offences in the recent past, but still.

    5. Ricciardo acted also as an amateur.

      1. No. Max deserved the spray.
        You don’t take out a team mate.

        1. So that gives you the right to respond like Ricciardo did?

          1. @dennis65
            Yes, it does. Do you suggest to censor Ric bc you don’t like what he’s saying?
            It was an amateur move, despite whatever problems guys like @addvariety have with it, so much so that even Ver himself apologised
            Also, it’s telling that Ver-fans mention incidents with Bottas now, while whenever there was criticism towards their hero in the past two years, they repeatedly refuted such criticism by pointing towards the lack of penalties handed to him.

    6. Another stupid mistake by a overrated driver. The new Alonso. Shame.

      1. Alonso is 2 times WDC and arguably one of the best drivers in the world .. first u say he is overrated and then you compare him to Alonso .. it doesn’t make any sense at all! To be clear Max is not overrated. Everyone is bashing Max and say he makes mistakes all the time but if i am not mistaken this was his first mistake in 2017 .. crash in Spain was Bottas his fault and crash in Austria was Kvyat his mistake. Yes he made mistakes in Monaco 2015 and 2016 .. other then that can you point out all the mistakes he made because there are none. Also other drivers never makes mistakes????

        1. Max also took Vettel out on the first lap a few races back (ran over his wing). Too aggressive..

          1. Not so that was Vettel not steering more to the left. Vettel saw too late that Max was ahead and way heself behind in the corner. (Why do you think Vettel didn’t say about that then he saw Max to late)

            Don’t makeup stories please there is enough of those going around.

            1. I stand by my claim…

          2. He is the one
            31st July 2017, 22:48

            No

      2. are u also pointing out the mistakes other drivers make?? like Sainz in Bahrain and Canada or Kvyat in Austria and Silverstone or Bottas in Spain and Baku or Ocon in Baku or Vettel in Baku etc etc etc etc ….

        1. @arnoudvanhouwelingen The thing with Verstappen is, he is very erratic during race starts, takes big risks (like Barcelona trying to overtake two battling cars around the outside) and more than once he makes contact (see today, Canada but also Austria and Belgium last year). Not all those situations are clearly his fault alone, but it’s no coincidence he’s involved in all of them.

          Sure Kvyat is also a multi-offender but that’s why people say his F1 career could/should be over soon.

      3. I am Hamilton fan but I root for him because of mercedes. I never liked Max but without him F1 would have been boring. With mercedes in Hungary Max would have overtaken both Raikonnen and Vettel.

    7. Well, Mr Ricc is always smiling. Except when things don’t go his way. Always the victim, never accepting bad luck. He’s just an equal whiner as every one else on the grid (apart from Stoffel, who never complains).

      1. Too be fair in this case Max was wrong. So then i understand Riccordo didn’t smile.

    8. Adam (@rocketpanda)
      30th July 2017, 16:00

      Yeah kinda think it was a harsh penalty. Like it was Verstappen’s fault sure but it wasn’t like he did it on purpose.

      1. Oh no, it was absolutely on purpose, he didn’t accept that he was poorly positioned on track and was losing the place.

      2. The penaulty is not harsh as Max made that mistake but he didn’t torped Daniel on purpose.

    9. I think the 10 sec penalty (and the 2 points on his license too) is excessive. Not only that, but the stewards took out all the exitement out of the race. It was an error of Max though. It’s not that the other drivers don’t make any mistakes. Too bad for Dan though.

      1. Max got away with plenty of on track assaults before good to see him finally get penalized. About time. Let that be someone like Perez and the fans would want his head.

        1. These penalties are not supposed to be for earlier incidents. It’s pretty silly to see a lot of people claim that he deserves the penalty for things in earlier races.

        2. Actually I don’t think Perez would get that. MAL, or maybe PAL or even HAR on the other hand……

      2. Sundar Srinivas Harish
        30th July 2017, 16:27

        You could argue that Max took out a fair bit of excitement from the race by colliding with Daniel. 10 seconds for ending the race of another driver is perfectly fair, if not lenient, as are the penalty points.

        1. The tap on the side broke the radiator. The tap was firm, but the damage was still unexpected.
          If it had not broken both would have raced on ahead of Hamilton.
          I doubt anyone would have considered a penalty then.

      3. I think the 10 sec penalty (and the 2 points on his license too) is excessive

        You could say that, but on the other hand at the same track in 2015 Hamilton got a drive through for locking up and understeering into Ricciardo, and in that case Ricciardo was fine and Hamilton had to pit for a new front wing. By comparison Verstappen was treated very leniently.

      4. Apparently race control deemed this as serious as deliberately driving into another car while the safety car is out to protect all volunteers on track.

    10. “So I apologise to Daniel for that and also to the team because we could have scored some good points here. But I will speak to Daniel in private and we’ll sort it out.

      Sincerely, Marko… I mean, Max!!” =D

    11. VER reminds me a lot of Maldonado with the right car both could be very fast but just as reckless.

      1. Arnoud van Houwelingen
        30th July 2017, 16:36

        that is so awful to say .. Max is so much superior to Maldonado .. the crashes in Austria and Spain were obviously also the mistake of Max right .. not from Kvyat (austria)? or Bottas (Spain)? i am curious to know why Bottas doesn’t remind you of Maldonado .. See the crashes he made in Spain and Baku and did you forget his crash with Kimi in Russia 2015? So please explain which crashes Max had with other drivers and that was his fault apart from this race and Monaco 2015????

      2. that is so awful to say .. Max is so much superior to Maldonado .. the crashes in Austria and Spain were obviously also the mistake of Max right .. not from Kvyat (austria)? or Bottas (Spain)? i am curious to know why Bottas doesn’t remind you of Maldonado .. See the crashes he made in Spain and Baku and did you forget his crash with Kimi in Russia 2015? So please explain which crashes Max had with other drivers and that was his fault apart from this race and Monaco 2015????

        1. Spain was nobodies fault but Max’s. He squeezed two cars on the inside and left them no space, contact was inevitable.

          1. So why did Bottas apologise to both Kimi and Max?

        2. More insulting than that is when his fans compare him to the likes of Senna.

          Good thing they don’t mention Clark and Fangio.

          1. Max is a hype in the Netherlands. A lot of fans don’t really know the sport and wouldn’t know who Clark or Fangio even were. There are those that do of course but not the majority of newborn F1 fans (born on the day that Verstappen won in Spain)

            1. Lol I saw both gentlemen racing… Bit different then Senna who is an correct comparing with Max. Senna was ruthless on track anyone why says different never seen him racing.

        3. Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
          30th July 2017, 17:47

          Kimi, Bottas and Verstappen were all equally to blame in Spain. As this is why it was a racing incident. The rules this year state that if one driver is clearly more at fault than the others for this sort of thing, they will get a penalty. Bottas was the only one to recover from it and he didn’t get a penalty. So it clearly was just a racing incident. Bottas may have admitted after that he could have braked later. But Verstappen and Kimi also could have breaked earlier too rather than risk all going so tight into the corner. Then they wouldn’t have both been along side resulting in the gap getting so small that they touched. Kimi and Verstappen both took a risk. Bottas didn’t want to risk braking later. They all played a part in this and the drivers did agree that nobody was more to blame than any others.

          The crash Bottas had in Baku was deemed to be a 50 – 50 clash. The stewards decided that Kimi had made a speculative move. The meaning of that word is a high risk or loss. So it according to them was a little optimistic perhaps. If he hadn’t done this, it wouldn’t have happened. If Bottas hasn’t done what he did, it also won’t have happened. But Kimi could have been aware that kerbs can often make the car jump and loose control. I can understand why they were equally to blame for this. Bottas may have been involved in many incidents, but he has only ever once been to blame in Bahrain 2016 if I am correct. The one in Russia in 2015 was 100% Kimi’s fault and the stewards very soon gave him a 30 second time penalty and several penalty points. Bottas is not at all like Maldonado was.

          Verstappen also isn’t. But he has been at fault for other drivers retiring more than Bottas. I don’t think Bottas has ever been responsible for his own or anyone else’s in his entire career. Verstappen has crashed into Grosjean in Monaco 2015. He was fully responsible for that. Spun and crashed in Silverstone that year. Then had a dreadful weekend in Spain last year crashing in practice, qualifying and the race. Then this race he’s had a small clash with his team mate too. But overall, Verstappen has not had many poor races at all. He is a lot better than he used to be. But Bottas is hardly closer to Maldonado’s level. But I do agree that Nigel’s view on Verstappen is very harsh.

          1. @ Ben Rowe
            You have a rather strange way of explaining incidents… in both Spain and Baku Bottas was going to strong on the kerbs, desperate to keep his position, on both occasions he lost grip and made a sideways impact on Raikkonen.
            Bottas made no secret about it he was at fault. In Spain Verstappen was on the very outside at save distance from Raikkonen, not blame at all…. we don’t blame Massa either for being hit by Sainz in Canada..sometimes you just get hit.

            Your theorie about Verstappen being responsable for other retiring is also wrong, in 2,5 years of F1 this was actually the very first time he as much as damaged another drivers car by his fault. Ofcourse he crashed a couple of times, but never inflicted damage to another drivers car… and no he wasn’t at fault in Canada when Vettel’s wing got damaged.

            1. Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
              30th July 2017, 21:48

              Sorry, I did remember Monaco wrong. I thought he took Grosjean and himself out. I may be wrong but I am almost certain there have been one or 2 races in his career where he has had a small tangle with Sainz resulting in some damage. Nothing serious though I don’t think.

              Bottas never admitted being at fault in Spain. He did admit he braked earlier than necessary, but Kimi and Verstappen both chose to go along side him. It to me was so obvious why they just deemed it to be a racing incident. Bottas did lift off the throttle then use it a bit again but there was nothing wrong with this. He didn’t slide off like he did in Baku. He just ran out of space. Kimi could have gone wider if Verstappen had gone wider (which Verstappen could have done) But of course he could well not have seen that he had 2 cars along side. So I respect that he won’t have expected that he may have needed to. Verstappen and Kimi took the risk of going around the outside of Bottas at the same time. All played a part in it. And as I said, if Bottas escaped and the other 2 retired, if Bottas was more to blame than either of the others, just how can he have escaped a penalty? He could have done things differently, but so could Verstappen and Kimi. The drivers didn’t make much of a fuss about it at all.

              https://www.racefans.net/2017/05/14/no-hard-feelings-first-corner-clash/

              https://www.racefans.net/2017/05/24/bottas-admits-braking-too-early-in-spain-crash/

              Bottas did indeed say he could have done a better job. But he ended up creating an opportunity for the other drivers to attempt to get past. That is hardly a big mistake. If Verstappen and Kimi hadn’t taken the risk of both pulling alongside, the crash won’t have happened. If Bottas hadn’t braked early, it won’t have happened. You can say Bottas started it all, but no way is he any more responsible for the end result than the other 2. If he was, as I keep saying, he will have been given some sort of penalty as he didn’t retire but the other 2 did.

              Even in Baku, Bottas did break early and attempt to keep his position but I think the stewards description gives fairly detailed reason as to why neither driver was prominently to blame. And at the time, it was Bottas who suffered far more.

              I’m going rather off topic from the Verstappen crash though. I should stop now! :D

          2. RIC was the first driver VER took out, because Grosjean finished the race in Monaco 2015. And this dreadful weekend in Spain last year must be in Monaco, right? He won Spain.

    12. I think to us this looked more innocent than it actually was. Most of the pundits seem of the opinion it was carelessly aggressive. I think the in race penalty was harsh though, he got the same as Vettel got for outright deliberate dangerous driving for a first lap incident. And I don’t really understand the need for the points either. Again are they saying what Vettel did in Baku was only worth 1 more penalty point than an honest error?

      1. @Philip How can you be so ignorant? 10 seconds added timed is not the equal of 10 seconds stop and go.

      2. Vettel got a drive through 10 sec penalty (more than 30s), and Ver got a 10 sec penalty, only the title is similar.

        1. u can’t compare those incidents .. Vettel purposely drove into Lewis while Max locked up due to loss of downforce because of the Merc in front of him! u saw his steering wheel full lock to the left .. it was never his intention to drive into Daniel’s car

          1. It not only about the will, but also about the damage. Verstappen was punished because his move took Ricciardo out of the race. If he hadn’t hit anyone, he wouldn’t have been penalized.

        2. My mistake I thought he served the penalty during his pit stop.

    13. Clumsy move, but nowhere near 10 sec and 2 penalty points.
      Bottas got away with worse in Spain and Baku.

      1. Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
        31st July 2017, 7:42

        Just how was Baku worse? They both were deemed to be 50% at fault and Bottas was the one who suffered far more at the time.
        And in Spain, as Bottas was the only one who didn’t retire, if he was more to blame than the others, there is no way he wouldn’t have received a penalty. They were both racing incidents.

        What Verstappen did actually lock up and knock Ricciardo out of the race. In Spain, Bottas may have braked early, but he went as tight as he could and didn’t exactly slip out. He just ran out of space as Kimi and Verstappen took the risk of going round the outside.

    14. I must agree with some of what has been said in that both of the Red Bull drivers acted improperly.
      Verstappen , as always ,ignores the welfare of everyone but, himself and taking out his teammate is reflective of his selfish view .
      I also must agree that Ricciardo’s reaction and comments were neither professional or mature.
      Red Bull has two very talented drivers but, they are both very immature and that failing reflects negatively on the Red Bull organization and F1 .
      It seems to me that maturity should be required in such a dangerous activity .

      1. Bring back Webber and Coulthard.

    15. What annoys me is that if the damage on Ricciardo’s car had been more limited (like it often is when there’s contact with the sidepod) and he would have been able to continue, Verstappen wouldn’t have been penalised for the same infringement.

      1. @paeschli indeed. But it seems the contact was inevitable and he would still have a penalty for forcing a driver off the track. What would have it been? Letting Daniel past? Or a five seconds penalty? But contact was hard, it looks like it destroyed the radiator or something. Daniel’s front left tyre was wet somehow in the end.

        1. I think if RIC would have only been pushed off and lost 5 or 10 places, VER would have still gotten this penalty. Drivers get penalties for pushing drivers off all the time.

          To me it seems unnecessarily harsh towards the stewards to just asume they wouldn’t have given one and then bash them over that asumption. That’s just…ehh.. well, dumb.

      2. Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
        31st July 2017, 7:48

        I think it is very rare that it wouldn’t have had as bad an impact. That was a very hard wallop. Just watch Ricciardo’s on board replay. I am certain that Verstappen will have still got some sort of penalty even if Ricciardo got a puncture. Even if he didn’t suffer damage, I think he’ll have been pushed heavily enough out of position that it will have been investigated. It looked like Verstappen won’t have quite made the corner if it wasn’t for Ricciardo’s car slowing him down. It clearly wasn’t intentional, but he braked much to late when Ricciardo was clearly slightly ahead.

    16. Time for Max to go back to Toro Rosso to acquaint himself with the basics. As it is, Max costs RBR far too many points (five DNFs on his own and now today a sixth is charged to his account – from only eleven races), points Carlos Sainz would have brought home easily. Verstappen is very quick, granted, but there’s something seriously wrong with his ability to correctly assess race situations (to put it politely). At Toro Rosso, DNF-Max and DNF-Danil can barge into each other to their hearts’ content without costing RBR any podiums and championship points.

      1. Sure, because Sainz has never made a mistake.

      2. So Sainz is much better with his huge mistakes on Vandoorne in Bahrain of his huge mistake in Canada???? or what about the torpedo Kvyat with his mistakes in Austria and Silverstone. So in other words you would give a place to Sainz or Kvyat for RBR while they have made a lot more mistakes this year .. sure that makes sense!!

      3. Henrik .. quite unfair .. i don’t hear u when Bottas crashed into Kimi and Max in Spain or his crash with Kimi in Baku .. This was seriously the first mistake Max made this year. You know you can’t point to other mistakes Max did this year .. this was also his first 2 points off his license this year!

      4. So an electronic failure in Canada is Max his fault .. his braking problems in Bahrain is Max his fault .. u are aware that Daniel had to retire from exactly the same reason the next race right? .. the crash Bottas made bumping into Kimi and Max was of course Max his fault .. The Torpedo crash of Kvyat was of course Max his fault .. the hydraulic failure in Baku of course it was Max his fault .. man you are clueless

      5. 5 DNFs, and only one of them could maybe be his fault (Spain). At Bahrain he had a brake failure, at Canada and Baku some kind of engine issue, and at Austria he had a clutch failure that led to his poor getaway (lets not forget Sainz had a similarly bad start but didn’t even have a failure to blame).

      6. I wouldn’t say that Sainz would have gotten those points, but you are right in saying that Max has cost RBR a fair chunk of points this year.

        Rule #1 for a race driver is beat your team mate, but don’t take them out of the race, especially not on the first lap of a race.

        Hopefully Verstappen learns from this. Hopefully…..

        1. You are wrong! Poor reliability of Max´s car has cost RBR a fair chunk of points this year.

        2. Peter,

          Are you referring to Max Verstappen the mechanic? Because you can’t be talking about the driver.

    17. Anele (@anele-mbethe)
      30th July 2017, 16:33

      Would love to see the on-board of this because it actually looked like he was turn into him.

      1. Ben (@chookie6018)
        30th July 2017, 16:57

        @anele-mbethe , From the on board camera’s it showed that Max was to aggressive thus, locked up and wouldn’t have made the corner. (Confirmed by Horner) and that Daniel unfortunately was in the way. It’s a shame that it happens to be the ultimate sin in hitting your team mate. Daniel has no blame for the incident.

        1. Anele (@anele-mbethe)
          30th July 2017, 16:59

          @chookie6018 lol wrong article 🙉. Meant for Mag v Hulk

      2. Anele (@anele-mbethe)
        30th July 2017, 16:58

        My bad this was meant for the MAG Hulk incident

      3. Hahahahaha, people on this forum should all go into journalism. You are so good at creating your own reality hahahahaha

    18. Max is 19, made a mistake and apologised. Sh&t happens in a career to the top. Trash talking your team mate however is not on. It just shows RIC’s frustration in having a failed weekend and again losing to his teammate.

      1. Ben (@chookie6018)
        30th July 2017, 18:20

        Failed weekend and again losing to teammate? Ricciardo was ahead on track when the incident occurred and was further through the corner. Yes it is a failed weekend but only because of his teammates mistake.

      2. Again losing to his team mate……

        So far in 2017 Ricciardo has 117 points, Verstappen has 67. Dan has 5 podium finishes including 1 win. Max has 1 podium and 0 wins.

        I think that means that Dan has beaten Max more than Max has beaten Dan.

        1. Again did not qualify ahead of VER and blaming FP3 for it.

          1. .014 wasn’t it? – he’s probably right.

        2. I do think a great part of Ricciardo’s rather unrespectfull outbursts after Hungary are fueled by the fact he his difficulties keeping up with his team mate. He’s behind in almost every quali session and nearly every race. In Hungary Ricciardo saw a good chance on overtaking Max like Max did on him in Bahrain and Sochi.

          Being behind your team mate, but taking the points home thanks to DNF’s can’t feel like beating your team mate.

          Verstappen was pushing it to far in Hungary, like Ricciardo was pushing it to far in Austailia and Baku crashing in Q3

          1. A motorsports fan
            30th July 2017, 22:25

            Spot on.

          2. RIC had the better of VER in FP1 & 2, was compromised in FP3 and just lost a deadheat in Q
            Then when he did beat his teammate on track to settle the matter he was immediately T boned by him – what would you think were you in his damp shoes?

        3. I think that means that Dan has beaten Max more than Max has beaten Dan.

          Kvyat finished the 2015 season with more points than Ricciardo. Still everybody agreed Ricciardo was the better driver.

      3. 19 or not, this is his 3rd year in F1 and he should know better.

        1. So should all other drivers…Vettel, Bottas…sh&t happens!

      4. If age is some sort of excuse, he shouldn’t be there. What he did was very amateur

      5. Yes, it showes Ric is under more pressure than he shows

    19. VER made a mistake and he’ll move forwards, still his drive in the wet last year in Brazil still was a master class. You have your good days and you have your not so good days.
      RIC has actually gone down in my estimation, ironic how he likes a late lunge down the inside, not to say that was the situation today but his comments were uncalled for.

      1. Ben (@chookie6018)
        30th July 2017, 18:25

        Big difference between a late lunge from Ricciardo (Thinking back to Baku and Monza where he had big late lunges where Stroll and Bottas in those cases gave him room) Riccardo completed those moves cleanly.
        Dan gave Max room and Max was unable to slow for the corner thus destroying Daniel’s race through no fault of his own.

        1. The difference in late lunges from Ricciardo over the years, and Verstappen’s is that Ricciardo makes them work or at least prevents race ending contact.

          Meanwhile Ricciardo more often than not brings home the car (and podiums!) while Verstappen just has been involved in too many incidents with contact over the years imho.

    20. Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
      30th July 2017, 17:54

      It is just shocking the lack of time Verstappen and Ricciardo have had on track together. Then 2 out of the 3 races they both finished, one had to start from towards the back as they had problems.

      I’ve added up the laps they have both completed while both on track in the 8 races outside of the 3 raced they have both done. Just 41 full laps I think!

      3 races and 41 laps out of 11 races is such a tiny amount of time to have been racing against your team mate. Surely no other team is anywhere near this low.

      1. Actually Monaco was the only race back-to-back both didn’t have any mechanical issues, however ironicly Ricciardo was pretty frustrated with the team after quali and Verstappen pretty frustrated after the race….

        1. Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
          30th July 2017, 23:25

          Yes, so this just shows that we haven’t had enough time to compare these 2 drivers this season during the races. IMO, a few to many are saying Verstappen is better. We have had an extremely limited amount of time seeing them against each other this year to see if that is true.

    21. I’ve waited for this to happen for a while and am very happy a long with a Ferrari 1,2. The grin has been outclassed all year by his teammate and is lucky to have the points he has to papervover the cracks in his speed relative to his superior teammate. The grin has turfed drivers off with late lunges and people say great move. Vettel was punished taking his line in Mexico because he touched the grin. Now someone touches the grin they get a penalty. RedBull should have requested no penalty it was a double blow for them. Penalty was only given to ensure Hamilton got 4th place back.

      1. only one eye buddy…

        RIC throws it up the inside as good as anyone on the grid, difference is he will have enough space ans time to modify his line/speed if needed. remember how he smashed his tyres against VET in Mexico last when VET and VES were forgetting about track limits. Plenty of video online for that day….

        With the slow RB cars both these guys need to be at 100% to keep up with the frontrunners, but RIC seems to just hang in better when in the crowd. VES has had some bad luck, but as in all racing sometimes you make your own!

        Saddest thing about the whole RB political crap is Horner talking the mistake down so quickly after the race. All involved in RB’s management must be scared of Jos ans his fists of fury.

    22. I don’t get why there are so many Verstappen haters. All drivers have a rough start to their career, it’s just that Verstappen had an early career at a top team, so people notice it more. It is not enough for people to see one crash and decide he needs to be demoted. Seriously – everyone has their good and bad days. It seems as if Verstappen haters just wait for a bad weekend for him and then just pounce. I don’t get why F1 fans have to be so polarized on this site. There are either Hamilton lovers or Hamilton haters, Vettel lovers or Vettel haters, Alonso lovers and haters, and on and on for Every driver! Everyone calls different drivers overrated and terrible and glorifies a few! Can’t we just all agree that most of these drivers (sans Palmer and Stroll) are very good, and have to be to race in this sport! I am sick and tired of all this! Ridiculous! What are we doing!
      (then again people are entitled to their opinions…)

      1. (sans Palmer and Stroll)

        I’d add Ericsson to that list and put Kvyat under ‘maybe’

        I am sick and tired of all this! Ridiculous! What are we doing!

        Racing or pingpoing?! Blue flag! Blue flag!!!

        Well, Seb, you don’t have to read the coments if you don’t want to

        1. Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
          30th July 2017, 23:39

          If Ericsson can’t be on the very good list, I don’t think his team mate can be either really. Overall in every race this season, they have both been very up and down. Good enough to be in F1 but I don’t think either are anything special. Both seem to be at around the same level. But Wehrlein is better in qualifying.

          Ericsson is also one of the only drivers to have no penalty points at all. 17 others have at leased 2 I think. Not that this is a huge advantage, but Ericsson has had several decent performances this year that seem so have been unnoticed by many. Wehrlein’s points finishes have only really stood out because of a good strategy and also multiple retirements. Ericsson on both occasions was in P11. In Baku, I think he deserved the point more than his team mate. He isn’t great, but certainly enough to be in F1.

          1. The main point to make about Ericsson is that he has not been overshadowed by two drivers coming into F1 with the reputation of being “the next great Brazilian/German F1 champion”. If we are to believe all the negative comments about Ericsson, then both Nasr and Wehrlein too must be “very poor” and “not belong in F1”. I refuse to believe that of either! If we take a realistic view, Ericsson is a very accomplished F1 driver, a great asset to his team in his own right and a damn fine benchmark to measure up against for those aspiring to be the “next great F1 driver”.

      2. A motorsports fan
        30th July 2017, 22:16

        “I don’t get why there are so many Verstappen haters.”

        Nobody hates Palmer, because he is not a threat to anyone.

        “Can’t we just all agree that most of these drivers are very good”

        that would require a love for the sport itself. like US elections – heros&fans but no love for democracy.

    23. And today’s steward was… yes,
      Garry Connelly!
      An Aussie that is well known for disliking Verstappen. Time to give that guy a race ban for the rest of the year.

      1. Exactly! Finally somebody mentions this.

      2. Really? The same steward that tried to convince Mercedes to file a protest against Verstappen in Suzuka last year, after he was overruled by 3 other stewards (the protest that later withdrawn by Hamilton himself)? How is that possible…

        1. Tin foil hat time.

      3. what that is realy bad for the sport ! Then the penaulty made sense… not really ! But Gary shouldn’t be asked anymore Or they should ask Jos Verstappen.

    24. Waaay over the top reactions on what Max did. He was at fault for sure. Should have backed off. And he admitted it.
      So that’s aleady far better then many other drivers.

      I have seen worse accidents caused by Hamilton, Vettel, Rosberg, Kimi. Alonso and all the greats from the past.

      Doesn’t proof anything about Max character and his qualities. This was the first time he knocked someone out of a race. For a 19 year old with already 50 races under his belt that is pretty good.

      Ricciardo had said the standard before the race by saying he was not going to make friends in the race. Maybe that pumped up Max too far.

    25. When Verstappen matures he will be a force to be reckoned with. Until then, his natural ability will have to make up for incidents like this. He was too aggressive, but nothing like the dangerous Sainz in Canada, for example. Unlike Sainz, I also believe that he will be able to learn from his mistakes.

    26. I would like to the the steering inputs from Max’s onboard camera .
      To me he looks to have opened the steering more than needed after regaining traction with the front after the lockup ,taking him wider than nessesary and into Ric. To me it looks like he was deliberatly taking Ric out wider to get the run on Ham around the outside of the exit of turn 2 .

    27. Verstappen needs to get into his head you can’t win the race on the first lap. He is not a complete driver yet, he needs to think strategically. Like Ricciardo!

      1. GtisBetter (@)
        31st July 2017, 10:02

        Actually most f1 races in the dry are won on the first lap. Especially this circuit.

      2. Not as long as he is in a RB. Race is made on lap 1. With Merc or Ferrari its another story.

    28. Max made a mistake and he’s a man about it.

      He got his penalty.

      That’s it

      1. Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
        31st July 2017, 7:55

        @anunaki
        It does seem that I chanced my view on 2 drivers yesterday. Hamilton and Verstappen. I always thought they were both a little disrespectful and I never liked their attitudes. But I really like the way Verstappen just accepted this. And it was very nice of Hamilton to allow Bottas 3rd when he knew he would loose a podium. Although i think Bottas will have got 3rd anyway if he hadn’t allowed Hamilton through. But it was certainly worth trying this. Out of the car and in interviews, Hamilton has always been one of my least favorite drivers, especially in the press conferences as he looks at his phone most of the time! :D I hope he changes then I may start liking him in other areas too. But as I said, I respect Verstappen for accepting his mistake.

    29. I am sure we would all do so much better than all those drivers!

    30. Error, a little mistake, big consequenties for the team. Made by the same Verstappen who put RedBull in front of Ferrari in the construction championship las t season. I like this type of driving, move or be removed.

      1. Remember Rosberg and Hamilton knocking each other out in Spain last season?
        Two very experienced drivers.
        Why are people setting such a high standard for Max.

    31. He is the one
      31st July 2017, 22:43

      This is a post from someone on motorsport:

      Could also have been the Australian Garry Connelly factor, who was one of the attending race stewards in Hungary.

      For some that do not know, this was the Aussie who was very adamant about punishing VER for a defensive move against HAM at the race in Japan 2016. But the 3 other race stewards decided otherwise. Than after the race he went to Mercedes motorhome himself to convince Paddy Lowe (Toto already left) to yield a file of protest against VER. When Toto heard about it, he was furious and withdrew the complaint.)

    32. I think it was a typical first lap coming together and the result could easily not have been as bad for Ricciardo, if Verstappen had banged wheels with Ricciardo instead of hitting the sidepod , Ricciadro would probably only have lost a few places at most and not had race ending damage to his car. and I doubt the stewards would have punished Verstappen with an in race penalty.

      I think it was the type of collision whereby how it affects the other driver’s race is a big factor in what punishment if any is handed out.

      I was not sure about Ricciardo’s team radio comment after the incident “was that who I think it was”, how did his engineer know who Ricciardo thought it was who hit him to be able to confirm he was right. Hamilton was also close by so I wondered if Ricciardo could have meant Hamilton instead of Verstappen.

      At least Verstappen accepted responsibility after the race and apologised to Ricciardo and the team which should draw a line under the matter.

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