Daniel Ricciardo says the move his team-mate Verstappen tried on him at Turn 2 in Hungary was “amateur”, adding there is “no excuse”.
The two drivers were battling for fourth place through Turn 1, with Verstappen running wide onto the run-off – which let Ricciardo challenge.
The Aussie tried a pass around the outside, but Verstappen locked up and ran wide, slamming into the side of Ricciardo’s RB13.
This seemingly damaged something in Ricciardo’s sidepod, losing fluid and possibly causing him to spin as he struggled through Turn 3 – narrowly avoiding contact with the chasing pack.
Straight after the race, he spoke to media in the ‘pen’ and let his frustration and thoughts on Verstappen’s move be known:
“For sure it’s not on. It was amateur to say the least. It’s not like he was trying to pass – there was no room to pass, Valtteri was in front and I was on the outside so there was no room.”
“I don’t think he likes when a team-mate gets in front. You’ve got the whole race to try and repair the mistake but the pass was never on. It wasn’t even a pass, it was a very poor mistake.
“The team will do their bit and I’ll do my bit. We’ll sort it out. I don’t think it’s trying too hard. There isn’t an excuse for it. He tried the outside at Turn 1 and all of a sudden what was a good start is a bad start. He sees me go past and thinks ‘I’ve got to fix this’ and then we crash.”
The post-race debrief at Red Bull will be pretty awkward, that’s for sure…
