F1 legend blames Verstappen for Ricciardo crash
Stewards ruled both men were at fault, but Niki Lauda says the blame lies with Max Verstappen in his crazy crash with Daniel Ricciardo in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Verstappen and Ricciardo had been at each other’s throats for much of the race on the streets of Baku, and their high-speed collision with 11 laps remaining appeared almost inevitable.
On the longest and fastest straight on the Formula One calendar, Ricciardo lined up his overtake in the battle for fourth.
But as Verstappen moved to his left to cover off his teammate, Ricciardo was left with little room for manoeuvre and thudded into the back of him. In an instant, both cars were wiped out of the race.
Stewards hauled both men before them in the hours after the race and determined they were equally at fault, hitting them with a reprimand.
But Lauda, the non-executive chairman for Mercedes and three-time world champion, laid the blame firmly at Verstappen’s door.
The 69-year-old Austrian, who was also critical of Verstappen after the last round in China, accused the young Dutchman of weaving in his attempt to stop Ricciardo from passing.
It is Verstappen’s third collision in as many races following run-ins with Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and now Ricciardo.
“It is 70 per cent Verstappen, and 30 per cent Ricciardo,” Lauda said. “If you move on him all the time where can the poor guy go?”
Lauda added: “I would go home and cry. It is a disaster. I would bring them both into the office, and tell them how much less they will get paid for the damage they have done.”
Majority of fans and fellow pundits were also highly critical of Verstappen.
C’mon, Formula 1 needs a mid-season transfer window. Let’s get Ricciardo out of Red Bull and into a Ferrari ASAP.
Verstappen at some stage has to start playing by the rules. He needs to put his ego in his back pocket.#Formula1— Warren Smith (@WarrenSmithFOX) April 29, 2018
Grosjean Crashing under safety car saying another guy hit him but spun on his own. Wow! Also Feel for Ricciardo as max was driving horrible all race. Look out for your team mate.
— Mark Winterbottom (@mwinterbottom) April 29, 2018
Call me cynical, but I would bet good money the data shows that Verstappen lifted early which gave Ricciardo nowhere to go.
— Jay Ward (@Jward35) April 29, 2018
Ricciardo had been leaving space all day for Verstappen. Max didn't do the same in return
— F1_ONLY (@F1_ONLY) April 29, 2018
The stewards ruled that Verstappen had moved twice to defend his position – when only one move is allowed – and said Ricciardo admitted he left it “too late” to overtake. Both drivers received a formal reprimand, and each apologised to Red Bull.
“This is the last thing we wanted. We want to be able to race and I’m thankful that the team let us race,” Ricciardo said.
“Everyone is pretty heartbroken.”
Verstappen said he didn’t want the team to stop him fighting Ricciardo on the track in the future.
“We will learn from this and have to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” Verstappen said.
with agencies
