Ricciardo’s a raging Bull
DANIEL RIccIARDo flashed the finger at Max Verstappen after his Red Bull team-mate crashed into him on the first lap.
Ricciardo was walking back to the garage when he made the gesture following the collision at Turn Two, where Verstappen braked late, his front left wheel locked up and he bashed hard into the side of the Australian’s chassis. The damaged Red Bull spun to a halt, bringing out the safety car.
Ricciardo was angry. He asked over the team radio if it was Verstappen who had hit him. He was told yes, replying: ‘ F***ing sore loser.’
Verstappen was given a 10- second penalty for causing the collision.
on returning to the paddock, Ricciardo let rip, saying: ‘It’s not on. It was amateur to say the least. It’s not like he was trying 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 to repair the situation. It was a very poor mistake. There isn’t an excuse for it.
‘He tried to go on the outside at Turn one, and he saw me go past and thought, “I’ve got to fix this”, and then we crashed.’
Verstappen recovered to finish fifth, before facing his hostile team-mate.
christian Horner, the Red Bull team principal, said: ‘ Daniel made his comments in the disappointment of going out at the start of the race and what he said is understandable. It is the first time in 18 months that they have come together.
‘I thought the stewards were a little over- zealous punishing Max. I saw it as a racing incident. They spoke after the debrief. Max put his hands up and Daniel has accepted the apology. It has been dealt with.’
Both drivers had been warned pre-race to be on best behaviour because Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz was in attendance.