Max Verstappen displayed humility and maturity in the aftermath of a disastrous Monaco grand Prix weekend for the young driver, apologizing to Red Bull Racing for his costly mistakes.
Verstappen was an early casualty in qualifying on Saturday when he clipped the guard rail and crashed at the Swimming Pool complex.
The subsequent pit lane start on Sunday meant that the Red Bull driver was faced with a huge task in the race, and one which ended again in the guard rail at Massenet on lap 34.
But the sensational Barcelona victory was quick to own up to his mistakes in the Principality, and offered his apologies to his crew.
“In the end I have to apologize to the team because they worked really hard to get the car prepared, it shouldn’t have happened and I didn’t give them the result they deserved, and I’m very sorry for that,” Max said.
“I’m just disappointed in myself because this shouldn’t happen.”
Up until his mistake an exit, Verstappen had enjoyed a good run up the field, reaching the top 10 at the race’s half-way mark.
“Up until the crash I was feeling good. I had god pace, especially on the intermediates one I had some clear air, I did some overtaking, so it was all pretty good.
“But unfortunately on this track, especially in the half wet, half dry conditions, if you lock up a bit and go a bit off-line, it’s very easy to go off track, and that’s what happened.
“I locked up, went off-line, it was still wet on the outside, and from there on I was just a passenger. I hit the wall pretty hard and I hurt my knee a bit.”
The incident highlighted how little experience the 18-year-old has, but Red Bull boss Christian Horner thinks that such challenging times are all just a part of the learning process that the youngster has to go through.
“He had a very strong first half of the race,” explained Horner. “He had made some great overtaking moves, and had made good progress to be running in the top ten.
“He was pushing on because basically he saw that Rosberg was not that far ahead, and unfortunately the conditions caught him out at the top of the hill. He wasn’t the only one today who was caught out.
“It has been a very contrasting weekend for him compared to Spain, but I think it is all part of the learning curve that he is on.
“I think the trajectory that you can see is still extremely impressive, and I think he can only learn. And I doubt you will see him make the same mistakes this time next year.” Horner ended.
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