Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo caused some very controversial discussions post race after their crash in Baku. Mercedes boss Toto Wolff probably felt a little compassion for is opposite at Red Bull, Christian Horner.
Mercedes previously had several similar occurrences between Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton, such as in Spa 2014 or Barcelona 2016.
When asked what he would do, the Austrian took some time to come up with his answer…
“I dont know. On the one hand, you want to have two competitive drivers who drive hard against each other said the Austrian, before Niki Lauda joined the conversation.
“It’s a disaster and we had it once [at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix],” said Lauda.
“For me, it is 70 percent Verstappen and 30 percent Ricciardo.
“He [Verstappen] was moving on him all the time, where can the poor guy go?”
‘Rent a Quote’ Lauda then states he would make the drivers pay for the damage!
“I would bring them in the office together with Toto and tell them how much less they will get paid because of the damage they have done.”
“Really. We thought about this once but we didn’t have to do it.”
Meanwhile paddock rumours indicate…
It seems that formal discussions have between Honda and Red Bull have begun with an eye toward a 2019 engine deal. It appears that Red Bull’s Dr Helmut Marko and Honda’s Masashi Yamamoto had a meeting during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend.
If such a deal went ahead between the two, then both parties would need to move fast as the deadline for an engine partner swop announcement would need to be made by May 15th.
Horner should be held accountable for allowing Max to stuff up Dan’s race and compromise the team’s points. Max’s high-risk, low-maturity behaviour is well known, and with Ric faster, there were always going to be overtake attempts! Thus the failure to give team orders, putting Max in his place, enabled the final outcome! Well done Horner!
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