Christian Horner says Max Verstappen needs to remove the mistakes from his driving after the Dutchman’s latest crash caused him to miss Qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix.
The twenty-year-old will start the race at the Circuit de Monaco from the back of the field after hitting the barriers and causing significant damage to the right-hand side of his RB14, with the gearbox also requiring a change.
Horner, the team principal of Aston Martin Red Bull Racing, says Verstappen will be hurting from making the error, which was almost identical to the one he made back during Qualifying in 2016, but he needs to learn from the crash and stop making the
“This place bites,” said Horner to Channel 4. “He got bitten pretty hard today in a session that doesn’t really count for anything other than setting the car up.
“He is in a car that is capable of winning this grand prix and that will hurt him even more. You don’t get that many opportunities to win a Monaco GP.
“He needs to learn from it, and stop making these errors. He knows that more than anybody. I think it was a pretty painful qualifying from him, watching what could have been.”
Horner hopes the latest escapade will open Verstappen’s eyes and cause the Dutchman to change his approach, particularly as he watched from the side-lines as team-mate Daniel Ricciardo stormed to pole position, something he has yet to achieve in his Formula 1 career.
“I hope so. I don’t know what else will,” said Horner. “We have a great car. He is a phenomenally fast driver and would have been competing for the pole position today.
“For the whole team with such a strong car to be only be running one legged is frustrating. But I have to complement all the guys in the garage, with both car crews doing their best to get him out in that session but unfortunately that wasn’t to be.”
