Verstappen takes blame for Vettel collision
- Published on 15 Apr 2018 10:45
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- By: Fergal Walsh
Max Verstappen has taken the full blame for the incident between himself and Sebastian Vettel at the Chinese Grand Prix. Verstappen ran into the side of the German towards the end of the race, causing both men to spin out and drop two places each to Kimi Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton.
The stewards deemed that Verstappen was at fault for the crash, and handed him a 10-second time penalty. After crossing the line in fourth place, he was demoted to fifth. However, despite taking the blame for the crash, the Dutchman says that his driving style doesn't need altering.
"I could see them struggling on the tyres. I tried to brake late into the corner and locked the rears a bit and hit him, so that was of course my fault," Verstappen said. "It’s not what you want and of course it’s easier to say afterwards I should have waited. It probably would have been the best idea, but unfortunately it happened."
When asked if he needs to relax his driving style, he replied: "It's easy to comment that. Just at the moment it’s just not going the way I like, but does it really mean I have to calm down? I don’t think so. It’s just very unfortunate those things happening. I just need to analyse everything and try to come back stronger for the next race."
The Dutchman has also taken 2 penalty points on his FIA Super Licence, taking him to 5 in the last 12 months. If he obtains 12 points within a 12 month period, he will be forced to sit out a race.
Verstappen now sits in eighth place in the driver's standings, behind Fernando Alonso and Nico Hulkenberg who have scored points on every occasion so far in 2018. Red Bull reclaim third place in the constructor's standings, leaping McLaren.
Fergal Walsh
2
Replies (13)
Login to replyLightIsRight
Posts: 113
Dickhead strikes again.
This championship will not be determined by speed or reliability, it will be determined by this year and who he takes out each race.
LightIsRight
Posts: 113
Auto correct. Twat not year.
reg
Posts: 162
Why only 10secs?
Irace sailing boats competitively, punishment for infringing rules is simple a straightforward disqualification, unless you immediatelyaccept a penalty, which in motor racing terms would be Arun through the pit straight, simple stuff and it ensures that if you ruin someone else’s day, yours is shot too!
In today’s race Ver still beat Vet after ruining his day, if Vet loses championship due to today’s stupidity, Ver ought to get a season’s disqualification!
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
I honestly think he deserved a drivethrough for that. If not for just the Vettel move, then for the Vettel move combined with the Hammy move. He has been very clumsy this year. I dont think disqualification is a sound idea for things like this, and it exists anyway (get enough strikes and you'll get the banhammer).
f1ski
Posts: 726
Couldn't agree more drive thru would have been appropriate
Rindtchamp
Posts: 304
I think a 10 sec penalty in this case was absurd. He still got more points than Vettel.
Should have been a 10 sec stop & go.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Agree completely.
ajpennypacker
Posts: 2,475
Similar to the penalty on Sebastian when he rammed into Lewis in Baku. Absurdly he finished ahead of Lewis. Sometimes penalties work out that way. I'd rather see more on track action, but I guess when your boy is the one that was harmed it's a different story and you prefer for the race to be decided by stewards. While Verstappen was 100% to blame, this wasn't a completely reckless move like Maldonado, or like Sebastian in Baku.
Patentprutser
Posts: 392
Did some of you read the comment of Vettel on the situation? Max made a mistake just as Vettel made a mistake by missing his breaking point. Bashing Max is easy. He is punished and took the blame. He is only 20 years old and is still learning. What have Hamilton and Vettel been doing while they were allready older in F1? Max will learn from it and come out stronger. This season in the race it will all come closer and everyone has to deal with that.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
But neither Vettel or Hammy really performed serial incidents, both from race to race and midrace. Verstappen has been in F1 for long enough now that its faor to critique him for clumsy incidents like these.
xoya
Posts: 583
Problem with Verstappen is that you always half-expect him to crash into someone during a manoeuvre. The same cannot be said of anyone else on the grid.
It used to be true of Maldonado, Kvyat and Grosjean as well.
Only difference is that Max is so hyped up by Red Bull and F1 for commercial purposes that you cannot criticise him without someone bashing you for it.
ajpennypacker
Posts: 2,475
First of all, people need to stop talking about Max's age. That's utterly irrelevant. He's an experienced F1 driver and he's doing an awful job this season. That being said, it's incredible to see people dismiss his previous accomplishments and say he's all hype. That's just being a hater and refusing to acknowledge his blatantly obvious talent. Even the best have dips in form.
mcbhargav
Posts: 1,332
He got away with lesser penalty. Lucky guy!