Verstappen cracks it over Vettel crash with bizarre rant

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen has blown a gasket over the driving mistakes of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel following a first-lap crash at the French Grand Prix.

Vettel cost himself and Valtteri Bottas likely podium finishes at the Paul Ricard circuit when he locked his brakes into the back of his rival’s Mercedes.

Verstappen got away from the incident by cutting the turn to slot in behind race leader and eventual winner Lewis Hamilton, and the Dutchman was the big beneficiary of the incident as he held on to finish second.

But it appears he had been stewing for hours, having been criticised from pillar to post for his aggressive driving since his Formula One debut in 2015.

Verstappen let loose over Vettel, who was given a five-second penalty and admitted fault.

“I think next time you see Seb you should ask him to change his style, y’know?,” the 20-year-old urged reporters.

“That’s what they said to me at the beginning of the season, so I think they should do the same! And then, of course, Seb shouldn’t do anything, and just drive again and learn from this and go on. That’s my advice to everyone in this room.”

Hamilton, who did not see the incident on track, called the lenient penalty ‘crazy’ upon his first viewing.

Verstappen hid his disgust at times but couldn’t resist another, more potent dig later on.

“I hope when we get to Austria that the journalists ask him if he will change his approach because that is what l heard for so many races,” he said.

“It really annoyed me and it was stupid to ask. I’m getting annoyed about it. Mistakes happen and they happen to the best of us. But it makes me angry because they won’t be as bad on him as they were on me.

“All the time they came to me on how l should change my approach and these stupid comments. I didn’t change a thing and now everything is going right.

“I focus on my myself, but all these stupid comments you read on social media and journalists, it’s really stupid. I am not going to hold back on it.”