Max after Baku: 'Daniel and I may have to be a little less eager'

Published on 30 April 2018 by Raymond Snip

Max Verstappen unfortunately did not see the checkered flag in Azerbaijan's hectic Grand Prix yesterday after a collision with teammate Daniel Ricciardo. After an intense fight, during which the two Aston Martin Red Bull Racing drivers fought each other several times, they touched each other in lap 39, as a result of which both were forced off track. In Peptalk, Ziggo Sport’s talkshow, the Dutchman looks back on the disappointing race in Baku.

Max explains how he experienced the race: "The start was okay, but you cannot do a lot on such a short straight. I could keep my position and it all went fine, although it is always a bit shoulder to shoulder on such a street circuit."

After the first safety car, Max managed to overtake his teammate Ricciardo, after which the Australian tried to recapture his lost position several times. This made for nice fights, according to the Dutchman: "They are all nice actions. We had a strong wind, so on the straight you could slipstream really well. We gave each other little space and even had a little brush, but it was all right. Of course, the fights were on the edge but at that moment it was all fair and I think it was nice to see on television."

Then the crash happened, Max had the following to say: "I have already seen the moment twice or three times, but it is of course easier to comment on an onboard video than when you have to break going 320 km /h. It is terrible that you do not finish and the worst thing is that it is with your teammate, because we have a very good relationship, so it’s just enormously disappointing."

The Dutchman does not want to point out a guilty party for the incident: "Ultimately, it doesn't matter who is to blame. As teammates you do not want to touch each other and drive each other off the track. After the race, Daniel and I looked at each other and shook hands. There is nothing going on between us. Of course, the team was not happy, but we were not happy either."

When asked if the team should not have encouraged Daniel to chase him, Verstappen answers: "Maybe afterwards, but in itself I think we have always been able to race each other well and then you get these kinds of things too, that the team says, 'go for it'. They have faith in us. Unfortunately, the final action did not work. The other actions were aggressive and, on the edge, but fair."

In spite of the incident, Max will not shy away from a fight with his teammate next time: "As long as we do not touch each other. Of course, it remains a risk if you are so close together, but I think it also depends on the circuit. There is such a long straight and certainly with the way the wind blew you could win a lot of time there. You keep attacking lap after lap and this scenario is unique to this track."

"Of course, we are going to talk with each other and I think you should just let us race. Racing between us does not have to change drastically, but perhaps we should both be a little less eager when we race each other. In my opinion we can do that very well, but unfortunately this time it didn’t end well."

Finally, Max is positive about the races ahead: "There are still seventeen races to go and you can see how quickly things can turn around, so everything is still possible. For the next race we have a lot of updates to the car which hopefully take us a bit further ahead. Looking at the data, the updates look positive. It remains to be seen whether this is the case on track, but there will be quite some change."