Max Verstappen and Red Bull round on Williams' Valtteri Bottas
"I think nothing was going through his head at that moment" says Verstappen after being angered by Bottas's double qualy overtake
Tuesday 27 December 2016 08:31, UK
Max Verstappen suggested Valtteri Bottas "wasn't thinking" after the Williams driver twice overtook him into Turn One in European GP qualifying.
Verstappen will start in ninth for Sunday's Baku race after what the Red Bull youngster said was a "very frustrating" session which, without a late red flag, he reckons could have ended with him qualifying on the front row.
The 18-year-old was critical of Bottas, after the Finn twice battled with him for position into the first corner, once in Q2 and then after the red flag in the closing seconds of Q3.
"I think nothing was going through his head at that moment," Verstappen told reporters.
Conclusions from European GP qualifying
Describing the first incident, Verstappen said: "I went wide because he was locking up, so I was like 'maybe he is going to hit my side, so it's better to go wide'.
"But you lose that set (of tyres), you come in, and I had only one run in Q2. So it's all just very frustrating."
Verstappen, who said he did not feel the need to talk over the incident with Bottas, added: "In Formula 1 in general you can never be best buddies, but for me it's fine. Hopefully he learns from it."
Red Bull chief Christian Horner was similarly unimpressed with the Williams driver, labelling Bottas's moves "inexplicable".
Verstappen believes that had Q3 not been red flagged late on for Lewis Hamilton's crash then he was on course to qualify as the lead Red Bull for the first time. Team-mate Daniel Ricciardo instead starts on the front row alongside Mercedes' Nico Rosberg.
"If I checked all the data before the red flag in Q3 I could have fought for P2. It was a really good lap," he said. "Of course we know the speed is there and we can overtake tomorrow, I would prefer to start on the front row than ninth. That's for sure because compared to the (one minute) 43.9 (he had set) I was more than half a second up.
"Of course you lose a bit on the main straight, but there was still two corners left where I could still have some margin. So we definitely could have fought for P2."
