Red Bull Racing Team Principal Christian Horner weighed in on the collision between his two drivers in the Hungarian Grand Prix, saying it was all the more frustrating because their car was so competitive.
The Hungarian Grand Prix is a track that typically favours setup over power, and could have been one of Red Bull’s strongest tracks. Unfortunately this wasn’t the case, as Max Verstappen crashed into Daniel Ricciardo on only the second corner, putting an immediate end to the Australian’s race and landing the Dutchman with a ten-second penalty.
Horner said that the loss of one car and penalisation of the other was all the more frustrating because the team clearly had the pace to finish on the podium.
“A very frustrating day for us. After both cars made good starts, Max ran wide at Turn 1 which allowed Daniel to get past on the run to Turn 2 and unfortunately Max made a mistake under braking, locked up and hit the side of Daniel’s car causing sufficient damage for him to have to retire on the spot.
“Not only did it eradicate one car but it also landed Max with a 10 second penalty for the contact.
“It was particularly frustrating today because it was clear we had a very competitive race car despite the time penalty that he had to serve. His pace during the race was certainly capable of being on the podium today and gave nothing away to our competitors.”
Crashes between team-mates are usually tricky affairs, with neither driver wanting to take responsibility for causing a collision, though Horner said that he was happy Max didn’t shirk the blame.
“It was pleasing to see Max put his hand up and immediately apologise to Daniel and to the team and we all move on from that.”
Red Bull Racing retain their third-place in the Constructors’ Championship heading into the summer break, with an eighty-three point lead over fourth place Sahara Force India F1 Team.
