The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Verstappen under scrutiny in China as Ricciardo seals dramatic victory
The great and good of Formula One have rounded on Max Verstappen after the Dutchman’s banzai driving took centre stage again following a dramatic Chinese Grand Prix.
Despite Daniel Ricciardo pulling off a Red Bull tactical masterstroke to secure a remarkable win, it was the aggressive tactics deployed by his hotheaded team-mate which dominated the paddock discourse for a second weekend in succession.
Seven days ago in Bahrain, Verstappen collided with Lewis Hamilton but, in Shanghai yesterday, it was the Briton’s championship rival Sebastian Vettel who would feel the full force of the brilliant yet exuberant Dutchman.
Hamilton escaped without damage to his Mercedes car last week but the same could not be said for Vettel and his Ferrari here.
The German, who was second at the time of their coming together – during a frenetic finale sparked by the deployment of a safety car – limped over the line in eighth.
It enabled Hamilton, himself fortunate to finish fourth, to reduce the gap in the drivers’ championship from 17 to only nine points.
Verstappen and Ricciardo had carved their way to the top after an inspired gamble by Red Bull team principal Christian Horner to haul both of his drivers in for fresh tyres after Brendon Hartley and Pierre Gasly tangled and the safety car was sent out.
It provided both men with the advantage of quicker, fresher tyres but, as Ricciardo excelled in picking off Kimi Raikkonen, Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas in an overtaking masterclass, Verstappen faltered.
He ran off the road following an ambitious move round the outside of Hamilton at turn seven. Although he got the Briton one lap later, his hairpin lunge on Vettel was desperate. Late on the brakes, he thudded into the Ferrari and sent them both into a spin. The stewards hit Verstappen with a 10-second penalty which would demote him to fifth.
“It was completely Max’s fault,” said Niki Lauda, Mercedes’ nonexecutive chairman and three-time world champion. “When you compete in more races you should get more clever but he is going the other way. He needs to sort himself out.”
Verstappen may be only 20, but he has started 63 grands prix and is a threetime winner.
Australia’s Ricciardo, 28, showed far greater maturity than his team-mate, with bold moves on Hamilton and then Bottas, but they were executed with millimetre precision.
Verstappen apologised to Vettel in the immediate aftermath of another spellbinding instalment of this new, unpredictable season, but it may yet be an incident which could prove costly in the Ferrari driver’s pursuit of a fifth world championship.