Max Verstappen denies he’s caused six incidents in as many races following the crash which ruled him out of qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix.
The Red Bull driver is under increasing pressure following his latest crash, which means he will start this weekend’s race from the back of the grid.
However he denied suggestions he’d been responsible for at least six incidents in as many races.“I wouldn’t call Barcelona an incident,” he said, referring to his contract with Lance Stroll which damaged part of his front wing. “I think this was, together with China, my mistake. It’s of course not what you like to happen but unfortunately it happens.”
Verstappen admitted he had been momentarily distracted while passing Carlos Sainz Jnr before his crash, but said he would not use that as an excuse.
“I clipped the inside barrier,” he said. “I got a little bit caught off-guard with a slower car. But that’s not an excuse. And I hit the wall.”
Red Bull didn’t realise Verstappen would need to change his gearbox until they fired up his car shortly before qualifying began, Verstappen revealed.
“[It was] a bit of a rollercoaster. You’re preparing, thinking you’re going out knowing that after qualifying you may change your gearbox. It was just unfortunate that when they fired up the car, we saw the leak, and then we knew it was too late to make it happen.”
Verstappen’s incidents in 2018
| Race | Session | Incident |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | Race | Spun, losing places |
| Bahrain | Q1 | Crashed |
| Bahrain | Race | Collided with Lewis Hamilton |
| China | Race | Went off trying to pass Hamilton |
| China | Race | Collided with Sebastian Vettel |
| Azerbaijan | Race | Collided with Daniel Ricciardo |
| Spain | Race | Collided with Lance Stroll |
| Monaco | FP3 | Crashed, missed qualifying as a result |
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Zad (@)
26th May 2018, 16:49
i agree with him. it’s his 8th…
Blazzz
26th May 2018, 18:03
You had me in stitches. Thanks for that mate +100
ben
26th May 2018, 22:34
Max Crashappen
SteveR
26th May 2018, 23:32
Brings back memories of Andrea de Crasheris; 148 retirements from 208 starts.
John Toad (@)
26th May 2018, 23:40
Kvyatt was demoted one grade by Red Bull after a couple of crashes.
By that reckoning after eight crashes Max will be demoted four grades.
I think that means after the season break Max will be driving in F3
Silfen (@silfen)
27th May 2018, 11:24
Kvyat was demoted because he was too slow. About 0.5s slower than Ricciardo in qualifying. The crashes were just the excuse.
Verstappen is on pace with Ricciardo if not faster occasionally.
John Toad (@)
27th May 2018, 16:10
Doesn’t matter how fast you are if you’re starting at the back of the grid or not finishing races.
Fast laps don’t gain points, only race finishes do.
RP (@slotopen)
27th May 2018, 1:18
What is the longest streak of incidents? 6/6 and a podium seems pretty impressive.
Can’t wait for the statistics report next week.
kpcart
26th May 2018, 16:58
He also hit a Williams in free practice. He was so lucky his car did not lose pace in Spain after collision, in fact it seemed to gain time weirdly.
Todfod (@todfod)
26th May 2018, 17:06
What has happened to him? Feels like a waste of talent and opportunity every race weekend with him. He needs to first admit to himself that he’s thrown away points on every race weekend so far. Living in a bubble where this is only his 2nd error all season, isn’t going to get him anywhere.
If I was Horner, I’d be fighting tooth and nail to make sure that they have Dan retained in that 2nd seat. I’d also send Max to Grosjean’s 2012 shrink.
BGC1978 (@bgc1978)
26th May 2018, 17:19
Exactly! What is happening to him?? Such a waste of so much talent… think in the first 6 weekends of 2018, he nearly made as many errors as within his first three seasons in total.
Esploratore (@esploratore)
26th May 2018, 23:36
Indeed, I don’t understand why some people keep defending him saying he’s young, he will learn. Let’s say it again: verstappen used to make LESS mistakes when he was a teenager than now and in his first seasons ever.
Pat
27th May 2018, 0:39
What happened to him is the pressure ratchets up each year as he is not living up to the hype the media has bestowed upon him.
It doesn’t help that he keeps getting let off the hook by the FIA/Charley. Such as yesterday’s backing out onto the track. He doesn’t learn because he’s rarely reprimanded.
Now he’s hearing praises for LeClerq and others so he feels he is running out of time.
Blame Marko – the idiot promoted him before he proved himself!
Then there’s daddy!!
Matteo (@m-bagattini)
28th May 2018, 9:01
IMHO @todfod @bgc1978 @esploratore it happened that he’s very talented, but not enough to live without putting some head in racing. People like Hamilton, or Senna, have so much talent that they can run by heart. Look what Rosberg needed to beat Hamilton: a whole year of full-time devastating dedication. I put Verstappen on the same level of Vettel, Nico, Ricciardo: a very talented driver who needs something more than his talent to became a champion. He needs concentration, dedication, meditation, study. He can’t simply hop in the car a make a pole position. He needs his head, and he’s doing anything but using it.
Yesterday’s race was good, he did the right thing and was praised for that: but he was fighting with much slower cars who didn’t have any interest in a fight with him. Even more, he’ll never ever be WC without a lot of second and third places. It looks like the only thing that matter to him is the victory. To became WC you need to win, and when your contenders win you need to be there at their side to lose fewer points possible.
Tristan (@skipgamer)
26th May 2018, 17:13
Perhaps his cars unreliability was doing him favours? Racefans reckoned he was the 2nd best driver on the grid last year…
Esploratore (@esploratore)
26th May 2018, 23:37
Nah, he was just very good and unlucky last year, you can call many of his races great, this year, only spain decent?
Jay Menon (@jaymenon10)
26th May 2018, 17:13
I think we can all agree that raw pace and talent does not win you F1 world championships. Mental strength and discipline is equally important. The likes of Juan Montoya was a phenomenally fast driver, but lacked the mental edge.
Max is still young, he’s got a long way to go. He will need to control his aggression if he wants to win titles. He won’t if he doesnt.
#crashstappen :)
Blazzz
26th May 2018, 18:05
+1. Maldonado never had a championship winning car but I would add him into that bracket too.
V12Beard (@v12beard)
26th May 2018, 19:14
And that’s why he’s called Pastor Verstappen.
Just imagine how many points he’d have on his license if he didn’t have popularity armour!
wsrgo (@wsrgo)
26th May 2018, 19:35
@jaymenon10 Montoya claimed in a later interview that European drivers are mentally weak, and he could often get under Ralf’s skin…
Jay Menon (@jaymenon10)
26th May 2018, 19:41
I love Montoya, I was a huge fan…but I wouldn’t use Ralf as a yardstick for mental strength..haha
David BR (@david-br)
27th May 2018, 0:24
Or Montoya, who I seem to recall scored a big fat 0 in championships, compared to a large bunch of European (and other South American) drivers.
Esploratore (@esploratore)
26th May 2018, 23:39
Yes, montoya reminds a bit of verstappen, as soon as he came in f1 he challenged schumacher, which was unheard of at the time, but he also made many mistakes and evaporated in the end, had a very short career, 2001-2006 not even complete season I believe.
Fletch (@fletchuk)
27th May 2018, 0:04
He’s still my hero
RP (@slotopen)
27th May 2018, 1:56
@jaymenon10
An alternative explanation: perhaps Max is not more talented than the other drivers. He is just driving closer to the limit, leaving less margin, and crashing more as a result.
I wonder how amazing Ocon or Perez would be of they we willing and allowed to crash every weekend?
Anthony
26th May 2018, 17:18
The lad is a menace he’s got no respect to any of the other drivers and has a pathetic excuse for every racing incident yet he’s the first to moan if someone else comes withing 10 feet of his car. The cheifs upstairs must decide when enough is enough because it’s only a matter of time because of his erratic decisions on track cause a terrible high speed accident like recently his bad decision to block his team mate could have easily ended up one of them loosing their life or getting severely injured. What be uses me when he reversed on to the track on Thursday in Monaco he actually thought it was funny but without the quick thinking of vettel and the yellow flag he would have caused another needles accident. He needs to cool down possibly swap gasley in the torro Rosso with him for a few races as the lad is dangerous
Jorge Lardone (@jorge-lardone)
26th May 2018, 22:08
+1
Michal (@michal2009b)
26th May 2018, 17:29
Verstappen is looking like driving his rookie season this season whereas 2016-2017 were his fifth/sixth years in F1. His only mistake last year was running into Ricciardo in Hungary. In 2016 he had a nightmare in Monaco but apart from that he was driving really clean regarding his aggressive racecraft.
One reason I think of is Max thinking of the possibility of winning WDC. In 2016, Mercedes was on another planet and last year they weren’t really there. However this year it is possible to fight for it, especially having strong RB development in mind, and Max is overdriving every time a chance appears.
CarWars (@maxv)
26th May 2018, 19:37
5-6 year? 2016/2017. He didn’t start in 2011… He was still a baby..
Lums (@lums)
26th May 2018, 20:05
SHerlock! you completely missed the plot.
Markos
26th May 2018, 20:06
Looked like had been in de for 5/6 years…
Esploratore (@esploratore)
26th May 2018, 23:41
As others said, verstappen was incredibly good at avoiding mistakes in his first years, it’s only this year that seems his rookie year.
Guybrush Threepwood
26th May 2018, 22:52
I’ve never seen a rookie this bad…
rick bradner (@3304hl)
26th May 2018, 17:35
Driving one of the six best cars on the grid for a race in which it is notoriously difficult to pass, he bins it in FP3.
If I were Horner, I’d sit him out for the race; partly to send a message, and partly to save the mechanics the effort required to rebuild the car yet again after the likely accident he’s going to have tomorrow as he tries to elbow his way forward.
Am I alone in thinking that based on results so far this year, Leclerc may very well win the title before Max…
Jorge Lardone (@jorge-lardone)
26th May 2018, 22:10
+1
Esploratore (@esploratore)
26th May 2018, 23:42
Sorry, unfair comparison, verstappen was excellent in his rookie year and even 2nd and 3rd. Let’s wait till leclerc’s 4th year, shall we? Can’t fault verstappen to be worse than leclerc since he got much worse his 4th year, when leclerc is still on his first season.
Ruben
26th May 2018, 17:42
After China and Baku you would think he might’ve learned his lesson.
The sad part is you expect another incident is coming tomorrow since he’ll try and barge his way past the slow cars during the race while Daniel is going out for a nice sunday drive.
Makes you wonder what a Sainz or Gasly could’ve done today in that car.
Esploratore (@esploratore)
26th May 2018, 23:44
The car was strong, but ricciardo is also very good at monaco. I think it’s not even sure verstappen would’ve put it on pole but pretty sure about 2nd place, since vettel was 2,2 tenths behind I’m not even sure sainz and especially gasly could put it on the first row.
Patrickl (@patrickl)
6th June 2018, 16:52
Sainz is getting crushed by Hulkenberg.
Monaco really isn’t Verstappen’s venue and this season he’s been out of whack as a whole. He has shown he does have what it takes though. He just needs to settle back down again.
Ricciardo had the same issue in 2015 where he actually got beaten by Kvyat (in the scoring). Just wanting too much from a car that’s just not there yet.
Like when Ricciardo was fighting for the win in Hungary, but he ended up getting rammed by Rosberg and finished behind Kvyat. Ricciardo still was clearly the better driver, but when you take risk to improve your position then you also run the risk of losing some.
Philip (@philipgb)
26th May 2018, 17:46
Verstappen is reminding me of circa 2011 Hamilton at the moment, but with a little less maturity and consistency. Which given he’s on a year less experience than Hamilton was at the time is understandable. Verstappen undoubtedly has enormous driving talent, you don’t produce the overtakes he does pull off or drives like Brazil 2016 without it.
But he seriously lacks the smarts to stay out of trouble in a race let alone an entire season. People have been questioning Ricciardo finishing above Verstappen for the last 2 years, but I think after this year, assuming Verstappen doesn’t have a remarkable turnaround I’ll be conceding that while Ricciardo doesn’t have the flare of Verstappen, he’s a better pair of hands to put a race car in.
nase
26th May 2018, 19:11
I would’ve almost agreed, but I think even Max is nowhere near Lewis’ immaturity in 2011. They’re similar on the track, but off-track, Max makes a rather sober impression and apologises for his mistakes.
Ju88sy (@)
26th May 2018, 21:22
I think Max is even worse in 2018, than Lewis was in 2011, considering we are only six races into the season and Max has a 100% race weekend incident rate.
Max has gone backwards vs 2016 and 17, his resistance to changing his style is not conducive to the development he should be focussing on at this stage of his career to maximise his spectacular potential, he needs a good coach and an open attitude to development. I am certain it will come in the future, but he needs to show he can learn and move forward, none of which is in evidence at the moment.
Mach1 (@mach1)
26th May 2018, 17:50
In my view, I think he is trying too hard to prove he can “destroy” his team mate. As if he has something to prove. As I have said before, Max will seemingly put beating his team mate before a race finish. It seems that he has been brought up with the literal belief that if you show any weakness at any point, it is a chink in your armour that other will exploit or will weaken you in the eyes of your team bosses. But, that approach has to be tempered with knowing when to be satisfied and take the points. It is the myth that if you fail to go for the gap then you do not want to win. It should be the difference between knowing when to go for the gap, not always going for the gap that makes a great racer.
Sush meerkat
26th May 2018, 18:14
I thought the reason given for his promotion to Red Bull Racing from Torro Rosso was the atmosphere between himself and Sainz, since Sainz isn’t there anymore why not demote him?.
Or transfer him to stock car racing.
Yoseph
26th May 2018, 19:26
I blame Hamilton.
Nick Wyatt (@nickwyatt)
26th May 2018, 22:52
“No, it’s not my sixth incident because if you are not British the word ‘sixth’ is quite difficult to say. Mmm, maybe I don’t like fifth or fourth either for the same reason, so maybe it’s my third only. I don’t know for sure because most of the time I keep my eyes shut for sure.”
Louis
26th May 2018, 19:32
Horner to Kyvat : “come back, we love you again.”
Paul F (@)
26th May 2018, 23:08
I think his demotion hurt his racecraft, he was never quite as good after that.
Esploratore (@esploratore)
26th May 2018, 23:49
I think a really good replacement for verstappen, if that has to happen, would be alonso, he’s as good as verstappen on a good day and makes few to no mistakes, but ofc red bull thinks age is everything.
Alonso on a car that can occasionally fight for wins on merit would be good for his last years.
JC
27th May 2018, 10:07
Kvyat seems to be doing a good job for Seb and Kimi in that Ferrari simulator! Vettel especially benefitted in a tenth or two of car setup for qualy!
Tarheelpup
26th May 2018, 19:52
Verstappen has the raw talent in the car but he lacks maturity in his decision making and he lacks racecraft. Also, I think he would have benefited enormously from one more year in the Toro Rosso. Another part of his problem is that he started to believe the hype surrounding him. One other thing. I think his father puts a lot of pressure on him. Jos may very well be playing out his F1 fantasies through Max. Max needs to get his head straight and I don’t think Jos is helping that at all.
Kim Philby (@philby)
26th May 2018, 19:54
What can I say, feels good to be right. I have been bashing him since his incidents with the Ferraris in the second half of 2016.
If I was it a bookmaker I would give out odds about which corner he will bin it tomorrow. Brazil 2016 is a distant memory now.
He and K-mag have this sense of entitlement because their fathers raced in F1. Sainz has it too but what differentiates him and those 2 spoiled brats is that his dad is a class act and a celebrated world champion so perhaps doesn’t push him that much. You don’t need a second chance to succeed through your next of kin when you are already pretty successful yourself.
Mauro (@)
26th May 2018, 20:16
Sad, but true
anon
26th May 2018, 20:39
@philby, I’m not sure I would entirely agree with that given Jan Magnussen’s attitude is very different to that of Jos Verstappen, as well as being rather different to that of his son.
Jan’s been quite realistic about his failings in F1 in the past, saying that he rather foolishly rushed into the sport and refused to listen to the advice of those within the sport who were trying to help him, as well as just simply not being mature enough. Moreover, in retrospect he has admitted that he wasn’t that happy when he was in the sport due to his constant struggles with the cars he drove and often being at a loss to explain his performances, and in some ways being sacked was a bit of a blessing in disguise.
Equally, I’ve had the impression that, if anything, Jan preferred to keep a bit of distance between himself and Kevin and preferred to step into the background when Kevin entered F1 – he tried to avoid getting involved in managing Kevin’s career because he didn’t want that to get in the way of the personal relationship they have as father and son, and he’s usually been a much more fleeting presence at the racetrack than Jos has been.
After all, Jan is still an active sportscar driver over in the US, and is still achieving success in his own right – his team won the GT class in the IMSA’s sportscar championship last year – so it seems that Jan is quite happy to be his own man rather than wanting to live out the career he wanted to have through Kevin.
Kim Philby (@philby)
27th May 2018, 6:57
@anon Fair enough, I didn’t know much of this info regarding Magnussen Snr and jumped into conclusions that they have a similar approach.
Anyway that sense of entitlement is ingrained in him too but being far off the sharp end of the grid gains less attention.
anon
27th May 2018, 11:07
@philby, I don’t think it’s a case of feeling entitled, but more that, after entering F1, he was encouraged to drive in a much more aggressive fashion.
To begin with, he was being criticised for being too passive when he first raced at McLaren, leading to Whitmarsh telling him to “get his elbows out” and start being much more aggressive on track. He did do that, and ever since few team bosses have tried to reign him in from doing that whilst, although the FIA have warned him in the past, they’ve not taken strong enough action against him either to discourage him from driving like that.
It looks as if, having been given something of a free reign to drive in that way and believing that he is gaining from doing that, it’s now become an ingrained part of his driving style.
Potsie (@potsie159)
2nd June 2018, 12:14
In a similar vein, I did find that Sky F1 piece on Nico and Keke Rosberg interesting. One difference there was Keke was saying that he stepped back from being the main person in Nico’s development. Keke said that when he asked his son to jump, and the answer was ‘why’ – he knew it was time to step back. I have no idea how much of an influence Jos is on Max as I have never met either of them an only know what is reported in the media.
but hey, how good was it to see the 1982 Williams at Monaco ! No front wing to speak of – that ground effect must have been fun at the time :)
Azmo (@azmo)
26th May 2018, 20:04
Anyone notice this crash is identical to the one in 2016? painfull..
https://youtu.be/ZDe2Au0anmU
anon
26th May 2018, 20:14
@azmo, you seem to have linked to the wrong video there (it’s of his earlier incident in the practise sessions). Nevertheless, there were some broadcasters that noted how the two crashes were very similar in nature – a couple even played the two incidents side by side to demonstrate how similar they were.
Azmo (@azmo)
26th May 2018, 20:14
Derp, wrong url https://youtu.be/0_EdUVXWaR0
Gabriel (@rethla)
26th May 2018, 22:07
@azmo
The crash is identical but not the lead up to it.
Mauro (@)
26th May 2018, 20:14
Super talented driver….but he needs to start to admitting his mistakes and learn from it. He is young in age, but he can be considered a veteran, since this is his 4th season. To be champion, consistency is important. He needs to become a consistent winner/podium , and mainly a points collector. Right now, he is a consistent crasher.
Dave
26th May 2018, 20:54
I took myself back to 2017!
Steven Robertson (@emu55)
26th May 2018, 21:20
Whilst terrible for max, not having the red bulls 1-2 on the grid increases the teams chance of a win.
ADUB SMALLBLOCK
26th May 2018, 21:56
If you mean there is less chance they will crash each other out, I agree. But it also removes any opportunity to use an undercut/overcut to challenge Ferrari or Merc should either be able to out-drag them at the start, a possibility with the Renault being down a little on power to those two.
Racefan (@racefan)
26th May 2018, 22:17
Good point ;-)
Potsie (@potsie159)
2nd June 2018, 12:16
lol. yes.
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
26th May 2018, 21:52
Although Verstappen did hit Stroll in Spain and got away with it, he has to consider himself incredibly lucky there. His front wing somehow avoided damaging himself. Also somehow avoided causing any trouble to others. I actually get the feeling he will have had a penalty if Perez suffered a puncture.
Relating to the incident, I certainly have to say it was Verstappen’s fault. I do think that Stroll could have avoided slowing down as much as he did. But if you watch the replay, Stroll slowed down when he will have likely just seen the flashing sign. And at this stage, it was yellow. Yes, a fraction of a second after Verstappen hit him, it was green and they could go racing again. But when yellows are out, drivers should be prepared to slow right down. So you should not drive anywhere near as close to the driver in front as Verstappen did. Another stupid misjudgement.
I hate saying this as I know he is fast and can be great, but his season had been simply dreadful. And this isn’t just because I expect better, if we consider the cars other some other drivers have been in, I actually think Verstappen has been the worst driver so far this year. Grosjean being pretty close. Even drivers like Ericsson, Stroll, Sirotkin and 1 or 2 others have looked reasonable in at least 2 races. Stroll vertually always has had great starts. I think this very often makes up for his qualifying. And I think I may have to admit he is one of the weakest in this area. Ericsson looked strong in Bahrain and also reasonable in China. I think Leclerc’s sudden improvement is making him look worse than he is really. I admit Ericsson seems to be having some poor qualifying sessions, but his pace in all races but Baku has looked reasonable. His defending in Spain was certainly a highlight.
I can think of more positives about every other driver if I’m honest and nothing like as many negatives when compared to Verstappen.
But then Grosjean is a tough one and some may think he’s done worse. I think that Magnussen just had a truly outstanding weekend in Australia. If we look at both drivers that weekend, both had similar qualifying results. Grosjean 0.150 behind. Then in the race Verstappen made his mistake, Grosjean then caught up with Magnussen and stayed within 1.5 seconds and often in DRS range. Magnussen did drop back from the Ferrari’s ahead. But the fact was, Grosjean was on the back of him for ages. Grosjean could possibly have been quicker for all we know. Once Magnussen had pitted, although Grosjean seemed to have lost a bit of time on that lap, he then started to close in by half a second or so of the Ferrari’s until he pitted.
I can’t be certain, but it could have been possible that grosjean had more pace than Magnussen than race. But Magnussen did qualify ahead and that really mattered here and he also got a better start than Grosjean. But this weekend was a good one for Grosjean. China may have been good for Verstappen, but he did something dangerous in it that he was incredibly lucky to get away with it.
So this is my reasoning why I think I would have to rate Verstappen last.
Esploratore (@esploratore)
26th May 2018, 23:59
It’s not his fault for spain imo, it looked like the williams suddenly broke in front of him, so I don’t think he’d have got any penalty had perez punctured, and I don’t remember if magnussen got a penalty in baku for the contact with gasly, but even if he did I don’t think it’s because bottas ended up puncturing on the debris they caused, that’s irrelevant.
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
27th May 2018, 1:07
I think it is fair points about Verstappen getting no penalty for this. But Stroll didn’t do anything wrong. He did not brake, he lifted off. And Verstappen did drive closer than he needed to. And like I said, you need to be prepared for anything when yellow flags are out. Hitting a car in front because of them slowing down slightly in yellow flag conditions is ridiculous. Totally avoidable. Don’t drive so close. Get past once the race restarts, Stroll was lapped and will have got blue flagged anyway. Verstappen just lacks patience and seems to need to run up close to everyone rather than waiting until a sensible moment to do so.
Racefan (@racefan)
26th May 2018, 22:16
Good point.
Jorge Lardone (@jorge-lardone)
26th May 2018, 22:16
Another rookie mistake by a veteran formula one driver.
And for its arrogance we can continue expecting other stupid mistakes like this in what’s left of the season.
Nick Wyatt (@nickwyatt)
26th May 2018, 23:00
It’s easy to blame Max for slapping the barriers in a rather over-exuberant lap in P3. But supposing he’d missed the barrier and had gone on to post the fastest ever lap of Monaco? We’d all be praising his abilities, judgement and commitment, wouldn’t we?
So what’s the difference between the two? 3 cm, 2 cm? Even less?
We ought to be supporting young Max for NOT playing the safe percentage game and going for the max (sorry. I typed that before it clicked with me), rather than condemning his failed attempt.
Tim
26th May 2018, 23:20
No, I don’t think we would. Well I wouldn’t anyway. It was P3 in Monaco. it was obvious any time he set would be beat in qualifying, so why push that much with nothing to gain ? Had he not crashed and just qualified second or even on pole I don’t think we’d be saying how good his practice lap was.
Yes, the margins are tight, but that’s even more reason to take it easy in practice. He’d already set a really solid lap and looked to have great trust in the car. When he flew past Sainz he could easily have backed out if his lap but he choose to push more.
Had that been the final run in Q3 I’d completely agree with you. The problem is he had nothing to gain from pushing so much when he did. If he was that close to the limit then that’s too much for a practice session, especially Monaco.
Nick Wyatt (@nickwyatt)
27th May 2018, 0:16
Accepted.
David
26th May 2018, 23:18
Max is a talent ….maybe but its been 4yrs now and still the mistakes. 8 in a row now, other drivers for the team have done far less and are no longer around. Fernando, Seb and Lewis all multi champions only took a couple of years to adapt to this top step of single seater racing. Red bull really need to rethink the Chrashtappen…….
Esploratore (@esploratore)
27th May 2018, 0:05
It’s too bad for verstappen and especially red bull since it was him causing the problem: for once their car is quick enough in qualifying, because of the characteristics of the track, to beat ferrari and mercedes on pace (looks like there’s 2 tenths between red bull and ferrari and another 2 tenths to mercedes), he’s never got a pole and had a terrible season, he has to take additional risks in fp3, which when it’s a mechanical problem it sucks, but when it’s a mistake, it’s really the worst time to make it on, had it been in fp2 or fp1 it woudn’t be this bad situation.
Lenny (@leonardodicappucino)
27th May 2018, 0:13
To be fair, out of the 8 incidents listed in this, I think only 5 were actually mostly his fault. I think the crash with Hamilton in Bahrain was a racing incident, his crash with Ricciardo in Baku was a racing incident (both drivers more or less equally at fault), and his incident with Stroll in Spain wasn’t really his fault either.
Sham (@sham)
27th May 2018, 10:53
While I agree, largely…. If it’s always one driver having incidents, there’s only the one that can change the pattern.
Srdjan Mandic (@srga91)
27th May 2018, 0:41
http://crashstappen.com
Sorry Verstappen-fans, I just couldn’t resist.
JohnH (@johnrkh)
27th May 2018, 1:32
The issue as I see it is Verstappen was brought into F1 to young, F1 is not a training school or a nursery. Some here and on other forums have said that, oh Max is still young he will improve give him a chance so on ETC.
No! That’s the bottom line, F1 is the top tier of motorsport. Teams and drivers are rightly expected to perform from the start. I don’t know how much more time he will get to lift his game. The pressure on Verstappen will make him or break him.
The comments from Horner will only increase the pressure and appear show that Red Bull are now looking at a what if situation regarding Verstappen.
Nedko
27th May 2018, 7:09
You miss Baku FP crash.
Alex Bkk (@alex-bkk)
27th May 2018, 8:41
“referring to his contract with Lance Stroll” Ah… The more Verstappen crashes the better Stroll looks?
The Mighty Boof
27th May 2018, 13:13
Can you imagine Max in a Williams? OMG he’d be binning every corner.