Bullfighting between Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen in Azerbaijan

It was bound to happen… Over the past few seasons, Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo have been several times very close to each other. This season, the stakes are even higher as the team’s level of competitiveness has improved compared to the past, which only increases the appetite of both drivers.

At the beginning of this season, the advantage clearly goes to Daniel Ricciardo, as the Australian managed to win in China while Max Verstappen is facing multiple setbacks, from a spin in Australia to going off-track during the Chinese Grand Prix by being too aggressive in an attack on Lewis Hamilton, as well as going off-track during the Bahrain qualifying.

The two men arrived in Baku with a strong lead for Daniel Ricciardo, who has 37 points, compared to Max Verstappen’s 18 points. At the end of the qualifying session, the Australian maintained the advantage by finishing 4th, just ahead of his teammate.

But during the race, the Dutchman was able to find an opening against his teammate during the first restart after the safety car intervention. However, he never gave up on reclaiming his position. The battle between the two men was very tight as they touched for the first time on lap 12. Ultimately, Daniel Ricciardo managed to get ahead, with a successful braking maneuver at the end of the pit straight.

If he thought he had done the hardest part, everything had to be redone a few laps later as Max Verstappen was able to take back 4th place by stopping one lap after his teammate. Encouraged by his engineer over the radio, Daniel Ricciardo then tried to overtake his teammate at the end of the straight. While he had always attempted to pass on the outside, this time, he faked going outside before diving back inside.

Unfortunately for the team, Max Verstappen once again showed a hard defense and changed lines during his braking. Deprived of aerodynamic grip, Daniel Ricciardo had no choice but to lock his tires and crash into the back of his teammate’s car.

The team thus found itself in a situation it had experienced in the past when Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber also collided during the 2010 Turkish Grand Prix. At the time, the team leaders showed their support for their young protégé.

This time, they decided to dismiss the two men equally, simply stating that it is primarily the team that lost a lot of points in this maneuver, as Helmut Markko explained in front of the cameras: « We let our drivers fight and that’s what they do. It’s incredible. Both are wrong! It was a racing incident between the two, neither is more at fault than the other. We always let our drivers fight, there is no number 1 or number 2 but we expect responsibility from our drivers. »

As good soldiers, the two men did their job in front of the cameras by stating that they apologized to the team and that there were no issues between them. They also have to go to the factory to make amends in front of all the team’s employees to keep them engaged.

But without a doubt, this incident and the coming weeks will leave their mark. Indeed, Daniel Ricciardo is in the situation of no longer having a contract with the team at the end of the season. He is therefore free to leave if he feels he is not being treated fairly compared to a driver to whom the team has offered a golden bridge since his arrival in F1 and even more so since the extension of his contract during last season. This type of accidents, and their management by the team, will therefore have a significant impact on his perception of how he is treated within the team.

The next battles on the track will be very interesting to follow.