‘Mad Max’ keen to fix damage to team bond
Ricciardo left fuming after first-lap disaster while Vettel extends championship lead
Max Verstappen says he’ll try to smooth over his relationship with teammate Daniel Ricciardo after enraging the Australian by ending his Hungarian Grand Prix on the opening lap.
Verstappen apologised after driving into the side of the Ricciardo's Red Bull car as they came through the fourth turn, although he insisted it was accidental.
Ricciardo, who maintains fourth place in the Formula One championship standings, had passed the 19-year-old into turn two to move up to fourth having started from sixth on the grid.
The teammates started the 11th race of the season positively, both jumping the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton on the first turn at Hungaroring.
But the crash ended the race for Ricciardo, who went off the circuit and was losing oil. It sparked an angry reaction from Ricciardo over the team radio.
“Someone hit me. Is that who I think it was?” Ricciardo asked his race engineer.
“Yes,” came the reply from Red Bull, and then Ricciardo did not mince his words. “F****ng sore loser,” Ricciardo said. While the incident ended Ricciardo’s race, Verstappen was given a 10-second penalty but still managed to finish fifth as he barrelled down on Hamilton late in the race.
Ricciardo was still fuming when asked about the collision between the two Red Bulls.
“That was amateur to say the least,” Ricciardo said. “It’s not like he was trying to pass. He doesn’t like people passing him.
“I didn’t really know what happened. It’s just frustrating — it was not even an overtaking move.
That was amateur to say the least. He doesn’t like people passing him. Daniel Ricciardo