Red Bulls collide on opening lap in Hungary; Verstappen accepts blame after being called "amateur" by Ricciardo
Friday 4 August 2017 09:56, UK
Daniel Ricciardo has accepted an apology from Max Verstappen after a face-to-face meeting in private with his Red Bull team-mate over their collision in the Hungarian GP.
In an explosive interview with Sky F1, a furious Ricciardo called Verstappen "amateur" and said he made a "very poor mistake" as the Dutchman was handed a 10-second penalty by the race stewards for crashing into the Australian's car at the second corner of Sunday's race.
But in a series of tweets on Monday morning, a more conciliatory Ricciardo indicated he had patched up his differences with Verstappen.
"Yesterday was hard to take," he wrote. "You build up all day for those couple hours of racing and then it's gone like that.
"Max apologised to me after the race and we spoke one on one away from media or anyone.
"The situation was handled and taken care of in the right way to move forward. Lights go out again in four weeks."
Verstappen's penalty cost the Dutchman an opportunity to challenge for the race win and after finishing fifth, the 19-year-old accepted the blame for the crash.
"I apologise to Daniel and also to the team because we could have scored some good points. I'll speak to Daniel in private and we'll sort it out," he told Sky F1.
"It's of course not what you want. Everything started in Turn One. The start was actually quite good but then I got squeezed wide by [Valtteri] Bottas and lost quite a bit of speed and then we were both fighting for position in Turn Two.
"We braked quite deep into the corner but I had a car in front of me and locked the front. From there I was just a passenger. I was trying to avoid Daniel but it was not possible.
"It's never my intention to hit anyone but especially not my team-mate and especially with the relationship I have with Daniel which is very good."
Horner: Max should have conceded corner
The two Red Bulls had started fifth and sixth on the grid with Verstappen leading Ricciardo into Turn One.
But the Dutchman went wide while attacking the Mercedes and Ferraris in front of him, allowing Ricciardo to move around the outside at Turn Two.
Aiming to stay ahead, Verstappen locked up at the corner and rammed into the other Red Bull. Ricciardo was then left stationary, sideways on the track, causing an early Safety Car.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said Verstappen should have conceded the corner to his team-mate but added that he accepted the teenager's apology.
"You never want to see team-mates touch and get the result that happened today," Horner told Sky F1.
"Max went in too deep at Turn Two, made a mistake and locked up and if Daniel hadn't been there I don't think he would have made the corner.
"Max is on the limit and he made a mistake today and it was costly for him, the team and for Daniel.
"Daniel had got a run. It all started the corner before. Max had a good run at Turn One but had to back out from Kimi and went out wide. That gave Daniel the run and he had the corner for the next turner and Max should have conceded there. He tried to win it back and just got a bit too deep.
"He's stuck his hand up and said 'I made a mistake' and we'll accept it and I'm sure Daniel will accept it. They've got a great relationship.
"We'll talk about it openly in the debrief. What happened shouldn't have happened. Golden rule number one is leave space at Turn One and Turn Two. Max is man enough to say he made a mistake and apologise.
"All drivers make mistakes. The important thing is when you do make one you put your hand up, accept it and apologise. He's done that and I'm sure he'll go see his team-mate and everybody will move on."
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