Last on the grid after his crash in FP3, Verstappen blames himself
A look back at the Red Bull driver's accident, who will start the Monaco Grand Prix from the last row.
The art of waste. In /f1/actualite/22719-monaco-essais-libres-3-ricciardo-toujours-en-tete-verstappen-tape-le-rail-.html, Max Verstappen is repeatedly in situations where he squanders major points. One of the biggest of his early season certainly just occurred 24 hours ago in Monaco. During a rather uneventful end to the session, in FP3, the young 20-year-old Dutchman overtakes Sainz’s Renault, which was going slowly to let him through. The Red Bull driver then immediately attacks the last sequence of the Swimming Pool, slightly too much on the inside. At this point in the circuit, the error is fatal.
« I must say it myself, I made a mistake. My attention was on the car idling but that’s no excuse. I can’t explain it better than that. It’s very easy to make mistakes in Monaco, compared to other tracks » declared the Red Bull driver, who was forced to acknowledge the brilliant performance of Daniel Ricciardo, who will start in pole position later today (3 PM).
The end of the session was probably hard to endure for the Dutchman. The RB14 had never had such a significant advantage on track this season against Mercedes and Ferrari.
In fact, Verstappen’s mistake is already the sixth recorded this season. Let’s continue with this table.
| Grand Prix | Event(s) | Loss | Final Result | |
| 1 | Australia | Spin in the first turn during the race | Four places in the standings | 6th |
| 2 | Bahrain | Off track in Q2 + collision with Hamilton in the first turn during the race | 15th in qualifying… and early retirement in the race | Retirement |
| 3 | China | Aggressive overtaking on Hamilton in the race + collision with Vettel | From 4th to 5th place… | 4th |
| 4 | Azerbaijan | Crash in free practice + collision | Collision with Daniel Ricciardo, his teammate | Retirement |
| 5 | Spain | Collision with Lance Stroll under safety car conditions | Front wing damaged (no place lost!) | 3rd |
| 6 | Monaco | Crash in free practice | Did not take part in Qualifying | ? |
Only, Max Verstappen admits to being at fault… in only one situation: in China, when he hit Vettel’s Ferrari. « I wouldn’t say Barcelona was an incident. In China, yes, that was a mistake on my part. »
Protected by his team, his team principal Christian Horner, however, did not spare him in his post-session statements. « This place does not forgive. Max was punished in a session that does not count for much. He is in a car capable of winning this Grand Prix. It hurts him because he knows he might not have many opportunities to win in Monaco. »
« There is no lesson more brutal than what he had. I am sure he will be smart enough to learn from this event. »
On his side, Helmut Marko, head of the Red Bull program, told BBC Sport that this accident was “unnecessary.” Adding this: « Verstappen is not patient enough. He always wants to be the fastest but the result only counts once the finish line is crossed. He must learn not to always drive flat out. » Ouch!
And now, what are the prospects?
Now, the damage is done. Climbing back up in Monaco is obviously not an easy task. In recent history, the most similar case is that of Fernando Alonso, who started last on his Ferrari in 2010 after an error in FP3. The Spaniard then rushed into the pits at the end of the first lap to switch to the hardest tires available. The bull from Asturias finished the Grand Prix in sixth position, after reclaiming his spot following the penalty received by Michael Schumacher. Will this situation be repeated with Pirelli tires (a first element of response is offered to you in this article)?
In the meantime, Verstappen must now hope that Ricciardo doesn’t steal the spotlight too much during the 78 laps of the race. A poor performance by the Australian would overshadow the Dutchman’s lack of composure, which is recurring in Monaco, following his crashes in 2015 at the first corner… or his 2016 crash at the same spot as his mishap this Saturday afternoon. Max Verstappen remains Red Bull’s protégé while Daniel Ricciardo still doesn’t have a contract with the team beyond the season… How long will this situation last?
From our special correspondent in Monaco
