"They got their butts kicked"- Red Bull's Christian Horner made Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo 'apologize' after they collided at 2018 F1 Azerbaijan GP

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner recently reflected on the dramatic collision between his two drivers Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix back in 2018. The incident took both drivers out of the race, leaving him furious. The Briton revealed that both drivers were reprimanded and asked to apologize to the rest of the team for the incident.

Horner spoke about the incident at Cambridge Union, explaining what went on within the team after the incident. He said:

“It’s the most frustrating thing in the world to see your own cars collide. They were both wrong. You could see it building up and eventually, after the race, they got their butts kicked. I then told them, ‘They’re not your cars’. I made them go through every department and apologise for crashing the cars. Both drivers were a little embarrassed at that moment, but the way you really hit a driver is when they have to pay a high price.”

“They also had to pay the bill for the Christmas party. All the drinks were paid for by the drivers. That probably hurt them more than any other penalty. So that we stay ahead of Ferrari, because right now they are our main opponent.”

Red Bull currently seems to be smooth sailing in terms of the relationship shared by Verstappen and Sergio Perez, leading the constructors' standings with a 56-point advantage over Ferrari.

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Max Verstappen says Juri Vips "deserves a second chance" with Red Bull

Max Verstappen recently admitted that while he understands why Red Bull took action against junior driver Juri Vips after his controversial racist comments, he feels like the young driver deserves another chance.

As reported by PlanetF1, the Dutchman vouched for Vips, emphasizing that he is a good person who has realized his mistake. He said:

“He is not part of Oracle Red Bull Racing as a reserve and test driver. I feel people deserve a second chance. Probably not a third but some things can be easily said, sometimes not even really thought about how badly you can hurt someone. I know Juri a bit more than the average person and he’s actually a super-nice guy, and I think he really understood what he did wrong because he’s in a very difficult moment in his career with everyone judging him. Fair enough, what he said was not correct.”

“I definitely think he deserves a second chance and I read the statement from F2 that they wouldn’t have done the same, but he deserves a second chance to show he learned from what he did wrong and go out there and show he can be a better person, or at least be more educated about what you are saying.”

Previously, Lando Norris had also come out in support of the Formula 2 driver.