F1: 5 times Verstappen Clashed with Other Drivers

Max Verstappen is F1’s newest star. Son of former Dutch F1 driver, Jos Verstappen, he entered the F1 world at the age of 18 with Toro Rosso and now is in currently in his fourth season in F1 despite being only 20. He has already gone further than his father ever did, winning 4 Grands Prix and is a potential future world champion.

He is a fast starter and that has enabled him to climb up the grid even when he has had a poor qualifying session. However, the youngster has a reputation for being overly aggressive when patience is required and has been criticized by several of his fellow drivers.

Though being aggressive is a good trait and is needed to succeed in F1, the right temperament is also equally important. It can be said that currently, Verstappen does not possess that and here, we list out some instances when his nature affected others’ races:

#1 Belgium 2016

Raikkonen forced off the track

The 2016 season was a rollercoaster one for Verstappen. Daniil Kvyat’s continuous poor performances made Red Bull take the decision to demote him down to its development team, Toro Rosso and Max was promoted to the Red Bull race seat. He won his debut Red Bull race in Spain to make a triumphant start to this new chapter.

But the youthful eagerness was very evident. Kimi Raikkonen in the Ferrari would experience it first-hand at Spa in 2016. The pair already had a skirmish at Hungary when Verstappen indecisiveness caused Kimi’s front wing to be damaged. At Spa, Verstappen dived down the inside of Kimi at Turn 1 and caused him to go into teammate Vettel.

Later in the race, Raikkonen found himself behind Verstappen again but this time was in a position to pass the youngster. As they went down the long straight after Eau Rouge, Verstappen had a one-car gap on the inside and Raikkonen went for it only for Max to move under braking and prevent the move. He had already moved once and had violated the rules by moving again and blocking the car behind.

He did not incur a penalty though but finished outside the points in 11th place while Raikkonen finished 9th, earning 2 points for Ferrari.

#2 Mexico 2016

Another race in the 2016 season which saw an incident involving Max Verstappen was the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez circuit in Mexico, which had it back to the calendar in the previous season in 2015.

Verstappen had a stellar qualifying, putting his Red Bull in 3rd just behind the two Mercedes of Hamilton and Rosberg. Vettel had qualified back in 7th place. But both these drivers would be involved in a battle towards the end of the race.

In the final few laps, Verstappen, Vettel, and Ricciardo were all within one car length of each other and Verstappen was holding his own against the raging Ferrari. As he approached Turn 1, he locked up his front tyres and could not slow down enough to avoid going on the grass. He managed to come back to the track ahead of Vettel.

The German was immediately on his radio, urging his team to get Verstappen out of the way as he was pushed by Ricciardo. Verstappen did not budge though and took the chequered flag in third. He did no go on to the podium, however, as he was given a 5-second time penalty, putting Vettel on third.

He himself would be given a 10-second penalty for moving under braking to deny Ricciardo an overtake and a surprised Ricciardo was awarded the 15 points for third place.

#3 Canada 2017

The first half of the 2017 season was a forgettable one for Verstappen as his Red Bull proved very unreliable, with him suffering as many as four retirements due to mechanical issues.

He qualified 5th for the race, behind the two Ferraris and Mercedes and edging out teammate Ricciardo. But he made a brilliant start, passing Raikkonen and Bottas and going on the outside of Vettel before Turn 1. He steamed past the astonished German, who had not spotted but in the process, damaged a piece of the front wing of the Ferrari. To make matters worse, Ferrari did not identify the problem until a couple of laps later.

The unscheduled pit stop for a new front wing took a lot of time and Vettel emerged in 17th place after that. But he, being the champion that he is, put in a stellar drive, passing several cars at the straight down at the second-last chicane. The highlight was a move on the Force India of Ocon as battled with teammate Perez going into Turn 1.

Vettel lost out on a potential podium finish as he ended the race in the 4th position. Verstappen made a brilliant getaway but was not aware enough of the car around him which completely ruined the strategy put in place by team and driver.

#4 Bahrain 2018

After winning 2 Grands Prix in 2017 towards the end, much was expected out of Verstappen coming into 2018. He had gathered experience in Formula 1 and Red Bull wanted him to challenge for wins and podiums regularly. Unfortunately, it has not happened so far.

Verstappen had an inauspicious start to the season, with an overeager attempt to pass Magnussen in the Australian GP resulted in an ugly spin, in which he lost two places. In the second race of 2018 in Bahrain, Verstappen had a horrid qualifying as he gunned his Red Bull too soon into Turn 2 and went into the barriers in Q2, unable to set a time. As a result, he started back in 15th place.

As the race started, Verstappen gained four places by the first lap, slotting in behind Hamilton who was in 10th place. They went down the long straight to Turn 1 and Verstappen made a move on the inside of Hamilton with sparks flying around. He almost made the move stick but Alonso, who was ahead of the battling duo, slowed down a touch and Verstappen moved too close to Hamilton. Their wheels touched and this time, the Dutchman suffered a rear puncture.

He somehow limped back to the pits but despite the best efforts of the Red Bull pit crew, they could repair his car to get him back out on the track. If only he had bided his time, Verstappen could have got some points for Red Bull but it was not to be.

Hamilton said after the race "There needs to be a certain respect between drivers," the Brit said. "It didn't feel like a respectful manoeuvre.

#5 China 2018

The Chinese Grand Prix was the third of the 2018 season and as mentioned before, Max Verstappen had a DNF in Bahrain. So, coming into the season’s first consecutive weekend, Verstappen was expected to put up a better showing than he had done previously.

He did not disappoint in qualifying as he qualified ahead of teammate Ricciardo and was the best behind the top 4 cars in 5th position. Verstappen also got away in the start without any incident, overtaking Raikkonen within the first lap to take the third position. This was maintained for a number of laps until a clash between the Toro Rossos brought things to a head.

Both Red Bull cars had enough time to dive into the pits as the Safety Car was brought out and had much fresher tyres than the Mercedes and Ferrari cars. As the Safety Car peeled in, Verstappen running behind Hamilton put him under immense pressure but once again could not wait it out. He ran wide, lost a position to Ricciardo who would then display an overtaking masterclass to take victory.

This was not the only incident involving Verstappen however. After falling back, Vettel was running ahead of him down the straight before the last corner. He locked up ever so slightly and Verstappen turned in sharply, colliding into Vettel and damaging his sidepod. Verstappen escaped unharmed and overtook Hamilton once again to take 5th place, though he was given a 10-second penalty which dropped him to 6th.

Vettel would finish down in 9th, his championship lead cut to just 17 points. Both drivers behaved maturely after the race with Verstappen accepting blame for the incident and Vettel forgiving him.