Toro Rosso: Verstappen penalized in Canada, Sainz makes a comeback
In a battle with Romain Grosjean at the end of the race, Max Verstappen collided and violently crashed into the barrier at Sainte-Dévote. The Dutch rookie blames the Lotus driver for the incident. He will drop five places on the next grid in Canada.
The accident was spectacular, but fortunately it only damaged Max Verstappen’s Toro Rosso. The Dutch driver was found guilty by the stewards for his incident with Romain Grosjean and will receive a five-place grid penalty at the next Grand Prix. His super license was also docked two points.
However, the Toro Rosso rookie did not consider himself guilty after the race: “I didn’t really try to overtake Grosjean. I braked perfectly at the same spot as the previous lap, but this time he decided to brake earlier. I tried to avoid him, but his braking really caught me by surprise.”
Max Verstappen nevertheless delivered a good race in Monaco and was fighting for points at the end of the race, even after experiencing a chaotic pit stop: « Our pace on the super soft tires was excellent. Since we had unfortunately lost about twenty seconds in the pits, our decision was to stop a second time to put on another set of super soft tires, and it was a good decision. »
Carlos Sainz, despite starting from the pits, managed to climb up the hierarchy to claim the point for tenth place. The Spanish driver was legitimately thrilled with his race: « What a magnificent race, I am really very happy with the result! Starting from the pits in Monaco and crossing the finish line in tenth place is like a victory for me! It was a very good race from a strategy or tire management point of view. We had worked in this direction and managed a very long stint on soft tires. I didn’t want the race to end! ».
