Verstappen rebuffs Massa criticism over Monaco crash

2015 Monaco Grand Prix

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Max Verstappen rejected Felipe Massa’s criticism of his driving in the Monaco Grand Prix by pointing out his rival had been involved in similar incidents in the past.

Verstappen crashed heavily after hitting Romain Grosjean’s Lotus at Sainte Devote. But when asked during today’s FIA press conference what lessons he had drawn from the accident he replied: “I learned the cars are pretty strong – so I was happy about that, that I didn’t have any injuries”.

“I think it will not change me as a racing driver,” he added. “I will keep fighting and especially when you want to fight for points I will still go for it.”

Verstappen said there was “not much” he would do differently if he found himself in a similar situation in the future.

“I was attacking, I wanted those points, especially after the pit stop we had,” he said what he could have done better. “Maybe turn a bit earlier to the right, try to avoid it a bit more. And maybe try to do it another lap again.”

“But I think there was not so many things I had to do differently up until then.”

Grosjean subsequently pointed out he had braked later than usual for the corner when he was hit by the Toro Rosso. Verstappen said his own data showed he “didn’t brake any later”.

“I have braked later in the race before that,” he added. “The lap I crashed was exactly the same like the lap before.”

“What he did was wrong”

Verstappen was given a five-place grid penalty by the stewards which he will serve this weekend. In Monaco Felipe Massa had argued Verstappen deserved a penalty and said he stood by that view.

“When I had the interview after the race he was not penalised, and they asked me what I think,” said Massa. “I think he needs to be penalised, because what he did was wrong. So that’s what I said.”

“I think especially when you are in your first year, 17 years old, if you do something like that and you’re not penalised, it’s completely wrong. I think the FIA needs to be strong in a proper way, which is what they did, actually. That’s the only thing I said, I don’t change my mind. That’s what I believe, we need to follow the rules. I thought what he did was wrong.”

“Everybody can have his opinion,” Verstappen replied, before pointing out Massa had crashed out of last year’s Canadian Grand Prix in a similar incident involving Sergio Perez.

“I’m focussing on Canada now. Maybe you should review the race from last year and see what happened there.”

“I have my own view and we discussed with the team,” Verstappen continued. “There was no reason to look back at Monaco, just focus on Canada like I said. I will try to score some points again and I will not change my driving style.”

Massa, who was twice cleared of responsibility for the Canada crash while Perez received a five-place grid penalty, dismissed the comparison.

“I think it was a little bit different, no?” he asked. “I was on the side and he moved the car on braking. I don’t think Grosjean moved the car on braking, no? Plus it was before the braking as well.”

2015 Monaco Grand Prix

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    Keith Collantine
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    128 comments on “Verstappen rebuffs Massa criticism over Monaco crash”

    1. This is quite funny, and I am happy Verstappen is defending himself. He is absolutely right in saying Massa has no space to talk.

      1. He would be better advised to stop accusing others and learn from his mistakes.

        1. No way, this is great. We need someone to have aggression like this. Stand up for yourself Max.

          1. “He would be better advised to stop accusing others and learn from his mistakes.”
            Answer: “No way, this is great. We need someone to have aggression like this. Stand up for yourself Max.”
            Really good answer! Verstappen needs fans like you lot obviously.

            1. I dunno. I just think he’s getting a lot of flak from drivers that really should know better. I’ve watched the footage many times, and although Grosjean does brake later, the deceleration is much much greater before anywhere near the corner apex on the lap of the incident (compared to the previous lap). So although the Lotus ‘data’ might be correct, it doesn’t to me at least appear to tell the whole story.

              I don’t think Grosjean caused a crash deliberately, but Max also shouldn’t be penalised for his driving. It was a racing incident. It’s also rich from drivers like Massa to comment on such driving.

              Personally, I don’t want to see the fight taken out of aggressive drivers. Its the main reason I became a fan of Hamilton (for having a go). To me it wasn’t reckless like Grosjean at Spa, it was like I say a consquence of over the top deceleration and a racing incident.

            2. petebaldwin (@)
              5th June 2015, 14:38

              @john-h – You can make raw data say anything you want by only mentioning certain parts and ignoring the rest.

              I always try and read between the lines and the fact that they have only referenced that he braked later suggests there is more to the story. How about looking at when he took his foot off the gas compared to the previous lap as we all know the engine slows the car down almost as much as the brakes these days!

              In my opinion, Grosjean slowed earlier than the previous lap even if he breaked later. In fact, if he did lift and coast into turn 1 (which would have resulted in him slowing earlier down the straight than the previous lap) would mean that Grosjean would have braked slightly later!

              Having said that, it still doesn’t make it Grosjean’s fault. There is nothing in the rules against what he did and many drivers were doing the same. The difference here is that Verstappen crashed into the back of him which shows a lack of experience. That all checks out as he’s only 17.

              A 17 year old making a mistake when trying to overtake around one of the most tricky circuits in the world? Sounds plausible!

        2. @sharoncom He would be better advised although that would make Max a liar. Data shows Max braked at the same point he had done in the previous lap, Max hit Romain but Max wasn’t reckless. Everyone who dislikes Max is having a go at the 17 year-old. One can say the drivers are having a go at him because they weren’t as fortunate as he is, as good as he is at his age and finally because they didn’t had the personality to stick with what they knew was right, because they were and still are afraid of the impression they are giving out. I hate fake people, to me you are better off with arrogance, and Max is neither. Max mustn’t have rebuffed Massa, yet again he is right. Perez penalty is ludicrous.

          1. He can’t brake at the same point each lap regardless! He was close behind another car. His braking point has to take into account that of the preceding car.

        3. Sharon H. > Who Massa or Max?

          1. I think it’s probably too late for Massa now :) I was referring to Verstappen.

      2. It could have turned into something like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfRVctse_KQ

        1. That was superb LOL He really showed pics in press conference. Amusing.

      3. Massa often talks too much and is being a hypocrite when it comes a history of crashing. Which is exactly why Verstappen should just keep his mouth shut, accept the decision of the stewards, and move on. No point in getting baited by this kind of talk. And everyone knows to ignore Massa when he gets himself wound up. He should also consider that he needs to earn some good will in the paddock to bank for future issues. A guy who is barely shaving taking on Grosjean and Massa is not a good look when you are trying to make a good impression on future teammates and team principals, and future event stewards He should probably just let his dad file the ripostes. That’s what stage-dads are for.

        1. I don’t think he cares what Massa or Grosjean think of him. He doens’t need a seat at Lotus or Williams.

          1. That reminds me of Alonso.
            I distinctly remember him accusing Ferrari of unsavory things back when he was in Renault the first time around. Then he got stuck in Renault for a second time and he was almost begging Ferrari or something. Jean Todt didn’t want him on the team.
            I also remember Alonso saying other not particularly nice things about McLaren after his bout there. Now it looks ridiculous. McLaren people are either very magnanimous towards him, or desperate for a championship.
            So you never know where you are gonna end up.

            1. petebaldwin (@)
              5th June 2015, 14:40

              I thought the same – it shows that he’s a fighter. If you look back at previous years, it’s usually the drivers at the front of the grid who are the loudest.

        2. +1!! F1 has a lot of politics.. he just needs to learn that side of it. The rest he has it! If he does it he really can become a new Senna (he also had to learn it in the first years before becoming a true champion loved by all the fans of the sport)

          1. “he really can become a new Senna”
            That’s some twisted logic.

            1. Care to explain? I would love to hear your opinion -.-

      4. @strontium Massa has been involved in a lot of accidents, but actually also has quite a good record in not being the one to blame for them…

        1. @xtwl de jure anyway :)

      5. ColdFly F1 (@)
        4th June 2015, 19:07

        But when asked during today’s FIA press conference what lessons he had drawn from the accident he replied: “I learned the cars are pretty strong

        Funny indeed.

      6. Felipe Massa in close cooperation with Lewis Hamilton behaved very immature and not very polite during a big part of the drivers press conference. They looked like schoolboys. Not paying attention and chatting among themselves they also displayed contempt for their fellow competitors. It is very clear that Max Verstappens talent makes them nervous while on the other hand Verstappen did his best to stay his ground. If Massa and some of his fellow drivers think that they will be able to discourage Verstappen by their psychological warfare, they are utterly mistaken. For that is the only reason why Massa and others give their complaining comments while there is no need for it. Verstappen will not back down and he will not be intimidated.

        1. Right.. Of course those two drivers with well over 50 wins between them must be absolutely terrified of that boy with… None…

          Get real – the idiot newspaper reporter tried to be clever with his snarky little question is why LH and FM were looking at each other.

          It had nothing to with the golden boy who has of yet just like his dad, done little to show any err… Golden…

          The boy made a rookie mistake. Anyone who has ever raced on a track for real in open wheel racing would admit to that – it happens and it’s all part of learning. Something most do at his age outside of F1. His refusal to admit a mistake and ‘I will not change’ does little other than show his immaturity – you have to finish before you win and a couple of banzai GP2 moves (not that he would know) will not get you those wins…

        2. Hamilton? WHat the..? Hamilton made no comment about Verstappen. How crazy are you people against the guy? You will just come up with anything to accuse him even when he has no relation with an issue.

    2. “I think especially when you are in your first year, 17 years old, if you do something like that and you’re not penalised, it’s completely wrong. I think the FIA needs to be strong in a proper way, which is what they did, actually.

      Wait, is his age relevant?

      1. Massa has a touch of the Villeneuves when it comes to inexperienced drivers.

      2. @keeleyobsessed Hear, hear.

        And it’s not just Massa who’s made that distinction about him.

      3. I’d say that is age discrimination! @keeleyobsessed!

        1. ColdFly F1 (@)
          4th June 2015, 19:38

          Let’s not forget that is was Massa who made that stupid remark!

          And then Massa’s final comment. I could hear him say it in his high pitched, close to crying, voice.

      4. means really inexperienced in the car racing

      5. What is really hypocrite it criticizing people who mention his age, and then saying “because he is a teenager you know how they are” when asked about why Max doesn’t accept his mistake and apologize to Grosjean. I also don’t think his age should be an issue as long as he behaves mature enough. Not saying some older racers don’t also do immature things.

    3. I had been really impressed by Verstappen’s maturity and talent up until that incident in Monaco. Since then, Verstappen’s attitude over the whole thing has been awful and reminds me of Hamilton’s mentality back in 2011. Instead of holding his hands up and saying he’ll learn from it, Verstappen has criticised Grosjean despite him doing nothing wrong, and then criticised Massa over an incident which happened a year ago which he was found to have done nothing wrong either. If his mentality doesn’t change, we could be seeing another ‘crash kid’ on our hands.

      1. You ever thought about the fact it wasnt Verstappen’s fault but Grosjean’s?

        Verstappen isnt a crash kid Woollard…he will be world champion before his 22th birthday

        Maybe you should review replays from Monaco

        1. This issue has been adressed countless times. Grosjean did nothing wrong, the data proves it.

          1. Watch the video comparison not the data.

            1. When you watch the video only thing you can see is that Grosjean uses the same line for the 2 laps.
              You cannot clearly distinguish the braking points since human eye is not equipped to deal with it. The difference would be minimal for you to use any reference point to assess when they both exactly braked. Never mind the relative speed…
              There is a reason telemetry is used in such cases instead of just watching the video.

        2. I am with you – and not simply for ‘blind loyalty’ (I’m actually an LH supporter). I cannot escape the fact that 2 laps before the incident my twitter feed showed a message that said Grosjean received instructions to ‘block him (Max) and don’t let him pass.”
          I seem to recall,also,that Grosjean’s performances since coming into F1 have not been incident free. Nor, for that matter, were Schumacher’s upon his return to F1. So this is not an age or experience thing we are talking about.
          This is a ‘who blinks first’ scenario. Max didn’t blink and would not be intimidated.
          3.3 kms in 80 seconds! Lotus claim Grosjean braked 5 metres earlier than the last time he went into this bend, that is 1/8th of a second! Some of the ‘adults’ commenting about not being old enough to shave can’t even take the top off their foam dispenser in 1/8th of a second!

          1. 5 metres later

        3. There are some blind followers all over the world indeed. They discard things like facts and data and keep insisting on what they say. Well, seems like Grosjean is a much better person than all of you. So keep your pointless defamation attempts and keep clutching at straws to confirm your bias.

          1. Geoffrey Keith Robotham (@)
            5th June 2015, 0:25

            Friend, it is not a dispute about the verifiable facts, but the interpretation of the circumstances of those facts. Newton watched an apple fall and said, oh, gravity. It hadn’t occurred to him before when all the times his wife threw a pan at him to get his attention. Interpreting facts is a relativity scenario, it depends on where you stand as to what hits you.

      2. @craig-o

        I think pointing out a similar incident where Massa was found to not be at fault was exactly the point he was trying to make.

        Not sure I agree with it though.

      3. His attitude is starting to annoy me, too. My advice to him would be to shut up and focus on his job. Answering criticism with a shaky comparison of one’s own mistake with that of the critic seems like the least mature reaction one could come up with.

        1. While I agree that everyone should just put this crash behind them and move on, you have to remember that this was said in a press conference, where the media literally asked Massa to express his opinion about the crash, and asked Verstappen to defend himself afterwards. It’s the media that keep bringing it back up.

          1. I agree that it is the media who keeps beating a dead horse.
            My opinion though is that Grosjean is at fault. But I base that on the video evidence, not the data. I think he made a late move to the right and then braked.

            1. That is the racing line.

          2. @polo
            He could’ve just said: “I don’t care about his opinion”, and moved on. Nobody forced him to make immature remarks (except maybe his team, blaming Grosjean for the accident is a disgrace).

            1. @nase Fair point.

      4. I agree with you. I think Hamilton recently improved himself much more though. Similarly Vettel had a couple of incidents like that back in the times before his championships, but I was very impressed with his attitude for those, much more than Hamilton’s at the time. “Crash kid” is not an issue I think, but being mature enough to accept the mistakes is pretty much essential. There is a similar attitude with Ricciardo also. Last week in Monaco it came to forefront again. I frankly found his attitude unpleasant. Hamilton was also pretty aggressive but I think he was more respectful.

      5. maarten.f1 (@)
        4th June 2015, 17:34

        @craig-o The last ‘crash kid’ went on to become a four times world champion ;)

        I think Verstappen should’ve kept his mouth shut about this one. I’m sure he has been breaking at the same point, but it’s still his responsibility to make sure not to run into the back of another driver. But mistakes happen, regardless of age and experience. Best thing he could’ve done was to keep his mouth shut about it and move on.

        1. “The last ‘crash kid’ went on to become a four times world champion”
          That was a bit exaggerated though. I think it was one of the bosses from McLaren who used that term for the first time (Whitmarsh or Dennis actually). And that year he was fighting for the championship and other teams wanted to pressurize him psychologically. But he went onto win. So by the end of the year they were praising him and offering all sorts of contracts. He is still one of the least accident-prone drivers on the grid, knock on wood. Maybe you can conclude he learned from his mistakes though.

      6. Max says he braked at the same point of the lap before. Grosjean says he braked even a little further of HIS lap before. Both are probably right as they have access to their own data. What is beeing missed is that Grosjean had a SLOWER lap than Max, so they were closer at that point. So, yes, Max you braked in the same place but there was a CAR there. He shold have noticed the car in front was closer, instead of keeping blindly the external visual references to break like a robot. As the guy in front cannot possibly tell to the one behind where to break, it was Max fault and trying to decieve fans with his data without considering their lap times makes him either malicious or plain dumb.

        1. It is pretty plain and simple really. I don’t get why it is so hard for people -especially press- to understand.

        2. Frankly I find it incredible that so few realise that the guy in front can do whatever he wants within the rules to ensure the guy behind does not get past!

          It’s called racing and RG had absolutely every right to do whatever because it’s the guy behinds job to not run up his backside. It’s that rule right down in junior karting let alone F1 – rookie immature mistake and hopefully one he might learn from although his family tradition looks to be keeping ‘bang on trend’ to use a youthful comment in tough today :)

        1. Very good comments though. I appreciate Grosjean even more now.

        2. Yeah. I’m really disliking Verstappen more and more. I think that the pressure will build even more on him, as his tem mate is doing way better than he is, in the championship. And he will surely do way more mistakes.

          On the other hand, Grosjean has really grown up since his first years at F1, which is a good thing. Verstappen should learn one thing or another from him.

          1. Verstappen crashed into Grosjean. There’s cloudiness around who’s at fault but c’mon, who cares? This is hardly the most dramatic thing that’s happened in F1…

            1. Well either this or Hamilton’s pit stop I guess. What a bore!

      7. Jenson Button’s comments on the Verstappen-Grosjean incident:
        http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/formula1/33015978

        1. JB: “To point the finger at someone and say that they brake-tested you, that’s serious. I don’t think that happens in motorsport these days, we’re all grown-ups and we don’t do things like that in Formula 1.”

          1. Maybe im wrong. But it was Grosjean who started pointing at Verstappen.

            1. Verstappen implied Grosjean brake tested him just after the crash (possibly understandable given he hadn’t seen Grosjean’s data yet), continued to do so after the stewards’ investigation and is still doing so almost 2 weeks later. It’s probably only his age that is preventing the riot act being read to him by the other drivers.

          2. The most successful F1 driver ever not only brake tested, but threw his car onto the competition twice in the hopes of winning the championship.

            1. No one (well, not many) condoned that at the time. Ditto some of Senna’s antics.

    4. While this all pretty funny, many time we have seem drivers say “x or y thing would not change me”, just to have them a couple of months of years having to change…

      1. Yeah, it’s all PR. None of the driver interviews are particularly telling of what they actually think… except for maybe Kimi’s. I’m pretty sure he has a very very thin filter.

        1. So Kimi doesn’t have any thoughts? He just gives short answers because he doesn’t like being a public person.

    5. “Maybe turn a bit earlier to the right, try to avoid it a bit more. And maybe try to do it another lap again.”
      Sorry but didn’t he say he wasn’t trying to overtake there?

      1. No….he was speaking about being so close to Grosjean and to wait for his oppurtunity

      2. I think he meant to maybe even go off the road to the kerbs in the 1st turn to avoid Grosjean and getting into a crash, as there is space for the pit exit, and not an overtaking maneuver.

      3. I thought he was trying not to crash into Grosjean, that’s why he moved. But he talked like he was trying to overtake there or something. I don’t know.

    6. He needs to literally move on like Hamilton has. I mean literally :)

      1. @evered7 Like in his car, litterally.

        1. @xtwl Yes but take care not to move in the braking zone like one Mr.Perez. Else he cannot move on literally as questions would arise why he moved literally in the braking zone.

          Ok, now I am stretching it thin!

          1. Ok, now I am stretching it thin!

            Figuratively or literally?

            1. I figure, the former. One more day to go for FP1. Excited is an understatement.

    7. I like how he said quite firmly that he won’t be changing the way he drives, good on him.

      He made a mistake, he is new he will learn from it. Every great driver is in history has made mistakes, the difference is whether a driver makes a mistake because they are pushing and attacking the race or whether they make a mistake because of lack of talent, and I don’t think anybody can say he lacks talent. Just how good he can be time will tell.

      1. Spafrancorchamps
        5th June 2015, 8:18

        You can’t learn from your mistake if you don’t acknowledge it. He is still blaming others.. I’m afraid he has got a big attitude problem, and someone should tell him that pretty quick. Because otherwise we’ll see a Grosjean 2.0.

      2. @woodyd91 Well said. I really like this kid and don’t mind his attitude. He’s just started and has been impressive. There’s entirely no need at this point to judge him or pigeon-hole him into now being some crash bandicoot with an attitude problem who will never learn. Far from it for me anyway. For me he’s been touted as the next Senna, he’s pretty much driving in a way that confirms why he has been brought into F1 already by those aware and intimate with his abilities, and I think his response to Massa’s opinion has been very Senna-esque too. My level of enthusiasm for Max is growing and I think he is great for F1 and is going to continue to be a force to reckon with out there, and a blast to watch.

    8. I think it will not change me as a racing driver

      Grosjean said it in 2012, he changed big time for 2013. Maldonado said it in 2012, he changed nothing as his points tally shows. Verstappen must choose who he is going to follow. I predict a lot more wasted opportunities thanks to optimism and a lack of experience. he has had a great run up to Monaco but more than once I already found his actions telling.

      His response too shows inexperience in both life and media, but who is to blame, he is only 17. Maybe Jos should have a firm talking with him before bedtime.

      1. @xtwl If this isn’t something he has learned from Jos already.

      2. His response too shows inexperience in both life and media

        I think that’s more important to this discussion than his maturity on track, which seems to be just fine.

        A more mature driver would give some boring talk about moving on instead of defending himself over an incident two weeks ago.

        Speaking of media, he didn’t put sensitive technical information on Twitter. It’s something!

        1. “Speaking of media, he didn’t put sensitive technical information on Twitter. It’s something!”
          There’s still time!

        2. @paeschli Age in the car does not matter. If he’s fast and talented he deserves the seat but it’s the entire surrounding to which he might be to young for now. The way he has handled this shows the teenager behaviour we will probably have to get used to for the next two years.

    9. still believe, too young too soon, yes he’s fast but needs to properly learn his craft.

      1. Age doesn’t come into this.

    10. Massa has a long history of stupid accidents so well done by Verstappen to remind everyone of one of them.
      Another point. A lot of articles keeps propping up about how great Massa is, which in my opinion are totally
      misplaced. Are they paid for by his sponsors! Just a thought.

      1. When was he penalized last time because of an accident?
        Who knows this? I really forget.

        1. Spafrancorchamps
          5th June 2015, 8:21

          I think it was India 2011, for the incident with Hamilton.

      2. This is the thing with fans. When they are actively fighting for wins or championships everyone praises the guy mad. Couple of years later he hits a rough patch everyone’s on his case. In Massa’s case it is a more than rough patch. Don’t think he’s gonna win anything. But happened with all the champions on the grid. Not a balanced criticism either. They either have mad skills or none. Give it a rest people.

        1. I don’t have a problem with Massa being overrated but … Massa loves to criticize rookies, even if he was quite crashprone himself a few years ago. A bit hypocrite IMHO.

          1. I think he just talks a lot.

    11. I’ll side with Verstappen on this one if only to go against Massa, who I maintain is the most punchable F1 driver on the current grid. Does Felipe remember how mentally he drove back in 2002?

    12. OmarR-Pepper - Vettel 40 victories!!! (@)
      4th June 2015, 18:27

      Maybe Massa should recommend a thing or to to Max about how to think about team spirit. Max may have been egotistical to think of getting the points for his tally (and failing). Look at Massa. How good he was at Ferrari, right? “Fernando is faster than you” and gearbox change…
      Shut up Felipe. Watching Max’s overtakes is awesome. He will improve and learn, I’m sure of it.

    13. Whatever it was,that scary moment from that teenager caused the biggest upset in monaco it ruined Lewis hamiton’s perfect weekend eventhough merc has the lion’s share of responsibility but that incident forced them to do that blunder.

      1. Oh please – you can’t blame Verstappen for how Merc was going to react. That’s ridiculous. Lewis lost the race because of his team’s actions; everyone else handled the crash just fine…

    14. Fantastic stuff from Verstappen. He has that self-confidence of a true champion in waiting. He emerged from a completely arbitrary grilling from Massa with utter integrity and dignity. Massa is just too adversarial, which is somewhat ironic given how many black marks are on his record.

      I quite like the way Max got in a fluster as he had to move his chair out of the way of an impatient Lewis…

      1. @countrygent Agreed. Not that I knew about the chair incident of course. Max is touted as a Senna, and I think even his responses since the Monaco incident have been Senna-esque. I have been intrigued about Max since hearing about him, and that his young age and minimal experience had not been a stumbling block for his entry into F1 by those intimate with his abilities ie. there has to be something special to this kid…and sure enough, like you said, fantastic stuff. Now I can’t wait to see more of him.

    15. He clearly screws up, backed up by telemetry, and not only refuses to take responsibility, but also says he’d do it again. Good call man. If you’re in the same situation, with a car braking at a reasonable point, ram it. He’s right in that it has nothing to do with age. Unfortunately, there’ve been drivers of all ages who are too arrogant and/or stupid to learn from their mistakes and improve.

    16. Ooh handbags at the press conference! Massa has been involved in plenty of crashes himself I don’t think he’s one to judge! Germany last season? And Grojean, maybe not now but earlier in his career he had a name for himself.

    17. The reason why Verstappen was behind Grosjean was because one of the wheel nut’s jammed onto the wheel rim. I did some research, and, at least according to an article on the F1 Dictionary website (http://www.formula1-dictionary.net/wheels.html) the nut is normally integrated into the wheel rim, meaning that when the complete wheel is changed, so is the nut.
      The fact the change in wheel was delayed because they had to retrieve the old nut suggests Verstappen isn’t using the same wheel rims as most other F1 teams do. If he had been using the wheel rims with an integrated wheel nut, then one could argue this incident wouldn’t have happened.

      1. It’s easier just to blame him for being young ;)

      2. thanks for that research,it really gives an interesting angle to it all

    18. Robert McKay
      4th June 2015, 20:01

      It’s not as if people thought Massa was a bit wild when he started in 2002, he was the very model of maturity and consistency, and wowed everyone with experienced racecraft beyond his years…

      1. Yeah, who would have called his driving “pretty dangerous”?

        “Experience counts in Formula 1”, like he showed in 2002.

    19. I like that someone on reddit pointed out this out: https://youtu.be/jwC5jUatT2w?t=10s

      Would have been hilarious if VES quoted this incident.

      1. Yeah. But not really the same thing though.

        1. It’s pretty much the same: the driver behind braking too late.

    20. Verstappen said his own data showed he “didn’t brake any later”.

      ok so Verstappen just proved that his initial accusation that Grosjean “brake-tested” him was incorrect. Has he apologized? NO. will he? NO. He stated it is past him and he is moving on, of course he is, he is in the wrong and doesn’t want to fess up to it. His denial of guilt to the incident is a small victory, although its a huge loss is the lost of respect amongts his fellow drivers. He’ll learn the hard way it seems.

      1. Spafrancorchamps
        5th June 2015, 8:28

        You can bet on it that he will now crash this weekend too.. Only if he would just see his mistake..

    21. Spoiled brat! Must be taking advice from daddy and will no doubt end up about as successful.
      What has F1 become when a kid without a proper driver’s license is racing competitively in a series that claims to be so demanding.
      F1 is no longer the challenge it once was and despite all the digs towards NASCAR and Indy they are doing great if compared to Bernie and his cronies proof being the mere 175 million viewers lost in 6 years.
      Overhyped, poorly run etc. – Formula done.

      1. Formula done for you I guess, but meanwhile Max is just starting so nobody can possibly know what his future will bring until he has had the same chance as every other driver to actually run the races, the seasons, his racing career, and show us then what that ultimately will look like. I see big things for him in F1. Top drives on top teams.

        As to F1’s decline in viewership…sure…there’s issues…we all know that. But I doubt NASCAR and Indy are beaming with confidence at their audience levels too, and they’d both love to have 175 million viewers, let alone so many more than that that they could lose that many and still be raking it in.

    22. Simon (@weeniebeenie)
      5th June 2015, 1:06

      16 or 23, his age doesn’t matter, he’s still a rookie and he will learn just as every other rookie has done in the past.

    23. Someone needs to remind Massa of this in his very first year.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jITe8sdKClU

    24. the kid is getting annoying now. Fast yes, then what? Second opportunity he had to stay quiet, to listen and learn… he did not take it. It’s been transparent that he messed up badly, that Grosjean did nothing wrong and yet he replies back. Have a bath of humbleness kid. Way too early to get this cocky. Learn from your team mate

      1. +1 – while all the attention and nationalistic pride is defending the lad, it’s not his age that is an issue, it’s his experience. And he needs to look across the garage and see a couple of clumsy (dad taught me) moves won’t necessarily work for long if your team mate is as quiet and calm as his one.

    25. First of all i think Max’s accident has been blown out of all proportion. I think in general Max has been unfairly over-criticized as a result of this accident. He’s a rookie. Rookies make mistakes. How many silly mistakes did Massa make in his first year in F1? and even after his ‘rest year’, countless. Max has preformed excellently since the start of the year showing maturity well beyond his years in his racing. Yes he did make a big error in his reaction in stating Grosjean ‘brake tested’ him. There is no question of that practice taking place. Max’s driving has been a pleasure to watch ‘having a go’ and pulling off rookie overtakes where more experienced drivers may no expect to be overtaken (i’m speaking about in all races this year) is part of what rookies bring to the sport. I would ask Max not to change his driving style. He will make some mistakes and will learn from them with penalties. In general i think he has performed well enough to say that 17 was not too young……in his case anyway.

      1. “Accidents can happen in F1, particularly when you are following another car closely and it’s difficult to react. I would rather keep the pressure on the car in front than spend the entire race following it at a safer distance because that’s what I should believe a racer should do. I acknowledge Grosjean did nothing wrong.”

        If he’d said something like that instead of bringing out the brake-testing accusations, I would have respected him more.

    26. This chit chat is completely, utterly ridiculous.
      Max slammed another driver and knock him out of the race, apart from himself, and was penalized. What the did was totally out of place. Full stop. End of story.
      The fact that Massa is voicing his opinion (and everybody else is doing on this comments) doesn’t change a iota the fact that Max took himself and another driver out of a race. All the rest is just blahblahblah…
      I understand that Max wants and needs to defends himself, but his attitude is annoying, unnecessary and dangerous. Maybe Max should listen to a guy with a decade of F1 and also a history of crashes.
      Move on, guys!

    27. Gordon Brandon
      5th June 2015, 22:05

      Let us face it, a 17 year old knows more than anyone else. Stupidity to that degree is the privilege of the young.

    28. Max V. is really nervous but it is note because of Masa… The real problem for him is Carlos Sains Jr. Apparently the young Pop Star (verstappen) is not good enough.

    29. Richard ter Veen
      13th June 2015, 19:59

      Massa nowadays has to talk trash to get some headlines. He bored Formula One fans too long with his conservative drivingstyle! The only time he made it really exiting, he passed out!

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