Verstappen takes blame for costly Monaco mistake
MONACO: A crestfallen Max Verstappen has admitted he was the architect of his own misfortune on Saturday after quali fying last for Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix.
The young Dutch tyro crashed in final practice, causing damage to his Red Bull car that included a need for a new gearbox - and the repairs could not be completed before qualifying was underway.
“I got caught a bit off-guard, but that’s not an excuse, and I hit the wall,” admitted Verstappen, of his crash.
“But this is my mistake, so it’s not what you’d like to happen, but unfortunately it happens. Here in Monaco, it’s very easily done compared to other tracks.
“We will look at it, see what we could’ve done better, and we still have a race to do tomorrow.
“When I heard that the gearbox had to be changed, we had about fifteen minutes so I knew it wasn’t going to happen. We had to hope for a red flag or something during qualifying because it would give you a bit more time.”
Looking ahead to starting from the back of a grid fronted by his teammate Daniel Ricciardo he said he had little idea of how to approach the race on a circuit where overtaking is notoriously difficult.
“I don’t know at the moment, I need to look into it,” he said. “It’s just a mistake and you pay the price, but of course at Monaco the penalty is a bit bigger than at other tracks where you can start last and still go to the front or at least finish sixth because the top three teams are normally one stop ahead.”
For Verstappen, it adds to the increasing pressure he faces after a series of incidents this season, but he denied he felt too concerned and said he was not involved in six incidents at six Grands Prix.
“I wouldn’t call Barcelona an incident,” he said, referring to a collision with Canadian Lance Stroll’s Williams. “But I do think this was, together with China, my mistake.
“It’s not what you like to happen, but unfortunately it happens...”
He said he had been distracted by passing the slower Renault car of Spaniard Carlos Sainz as he approached the Swimming Pool complex where he crashed.
“I got a little bit caught offguard with a slower car, but that’s not an excuse. And I hit the wall.” — AFP