Daniel Ricciardo has explained how Red Bull’s handling of the collision between him and team mate Max Verstappen in last year’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix contributed to him leaving the team.
Ricciardo collided with Verstappen, putting both drivers out. The pair had banged wheels earlier in the race, following which Ricciardo overtook his team mate, only to drop back behind him when the pair made their pit stops.Speaking to The Sydney Morning Herald, Ricciardo admitted he “struggled to let go” of the “the whole race and the aftermath” when considering whether to extending his contract with the team. He eventually decided to join Renault for the 2019 F1 season.
“That played a part in my decision,” Ricciardo admitted. “I never really felt the same after that. As soon as I crashed into him, part of me felt, ‘you guys deserved this, that was a shitshow’.
“If the roles were reversed, if I’d been in front and moved twice in the braking area and he’d run up the back of me, would things have been handled the same way? It was a question I kept coming back to.
“The team treated us as both equally at fault in that situation, where I think deep down they knew that it was their mistake and Max’s mistake. A lot of things didn’t sit well.”
However speaking in the new Netflix F1 series “Drive to Survive”, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said he believed Ricciardo “was running from a fight” with Verstappen by leaving the team.
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ruliemaulana (@ruliemaulana)
10th March 2019, 8:34
Didn’t the ban to move on the brake area already lifted? If Daniel said “the love just wasn’t there”, maybe this Baku things is only about feeling not fairness. Maybe Horner is right.
Tristan (@skipgamer)
10th March 2019, 8:50
It’s never fair racing to move multiple times in the braking area. Pick a line to defend and stick with it.
Mog
10th March 2019, 10:50
After watching the netflix series, i can only conclude Horners comment was made spitefully
I agree with Daniels appraisal on this one. Favouritism is not an alien concept in red bull.
John
11th March 2019, 1:00
I agree and must admit Christian Horner has been one of my favourite people in F1. However, he has now made a few comments in favour of Max Verstappen that surprised me and lowered my esteem of Christian.
Silfen (@silfen)
10th March 2019, 11:31
The rule says that you may make one move to defend AND go back to your line (provided that you leave a car width of space), which is exactly what Verstappen did.
Imho Ricciardo should have passed on the left instead of going back (too late) to the right.
If you look at the images from the front there seems to be enough room on the left.
Sam (@crunch)
10th March 2019, 13:28
@silfen
You are incorrect. Do not spread false information.
Appendix L of the FIA International Sporting Code contains the provisions for driver conduct. You can find Appendix L here: https://www.fia.com/file/76673/download/24716 and you can verify it is the correct copy from this page: https://www.fia.com/regulation/category/123
Page 42 of the document is the one you’re looking for. It says: ‘More than one change of direction to defend a position is not permitted.
Any driver moving back towards the racing line, having earlier defended his position off-line, should leave at least one car width between his own car and the edge of the track on the approach to the corner.’
The key part is that you may move back only towards the racing line. Verstappen did not do that; he made a defensive move then moved again to the opposite side of the track (ie. the inside of the corner, not the outside which is the racing line for the corner).
It annoys me when people spread falsehoods and others think that is the truth.
Silfen (@silfen)
10th March 2019, 13:56
@crunch: I know the rules. But imho there is not one racing line.
And if it was as clear cut as you say, the stewards would have laid the blame predominantly on Verstappen, which they didn’t.
PJ Gaudie (@moogleslam)
10th March 2019, 15:21
Your argument is that there’s more than one racing line?!?!? :)
ColdFly (@)
10th March 2019, 15:31
@crunch, please also send us a link to the definition of the teaching line in the rules.
I rest my case ;)
mystic one (@mysticus)
10th March 2019, 19:28
@coldfly
please state the location of the “teaching line” in the rules, maybe he can rest the case for you?
ColdFly (@)
10th March 2019, 20:44
*racing line
I use a swiping keyboard, which sometimes has a mind of it’s own. And on a small screen you cannot always see what you type either.
FA
10th March 2019, 22:00
You don’t have a case at all. Had VER only did one of the offences below, he would’ve been at fault already. He did them all 4.
1) VER moved thrice or even four times. That’s already once or twice too many.
2) He didn’t leave a cars width.
3) It was a manoeuvre that placed others, and himself, in danger, which is strictly prohibited.
4) Check all the footage that exists to know what the racing line is. Not really knowledgeable huh, racing 101, you take a corner from the outside and steer inwards.
F1oSaurus (@f1osaurus)
10th March 2019, 19:58
@silfen Yet Verstappen did not move in the direction of the racing line. He moved in the opposite direction to block Ricciardo.
Besides, if you want to count moves, then Verstappen moved at least 3 times.
1) Verstappen covered the inside line
2) When Ricciardo threw the dummy on the outside, Verstappen fell for it and moved to the outside.
3) Then when Ricciardo made his actual move for the inside, Verstappen moved again blocking him off
Plus Verstappen actually started to move back to the racing line just before the crash.
So he really made two moves too many.
Matn
11th March 2019, 8:50
Eeveryone sees it different….
FIA saw two subtle moves… on defending and one back to the racingline… in total he moved about 1 meter.
He left a cars width to the edge of the track… some may disagree, but that’s the way the FIA sees it and how it looks on replays.
In the end it is a matter of accepting things as they are… Ricciardo’s attempt to overtake was to bold, Verstappens defending tactics close to the limits… that’s why the FIA held both responsable…
Ricciardo’s frustrations over RB inside politics somehow don;t include the FIA’s decision…like the fans he just refuses to accept things as they are…and that’s fairly his problem.
James
10th March 2019, 14:55
I thought it was against the rules to move across in the braking zone, period. The rule about not moving twice pertains to the approach to a braking zone.
It seemed to me that Verstappen broke both rules simultaneously, and hence was to blame for the collision as Ricciardo states.
Silfen (@silfen)
11th March 2019, 11:55
@James: That rule was in place only for the last couple of races in 2016 and then abandoned altogether from the start of the 2017 season.
ColdFly (@)
10th March 2019, 9:09
Banned or not, teammates should never fight to this extreme (and crash out).
@ruliemaulana
I did a detailed analysis and fed all the numbers into the computer: VER was 57.3% at fault, RIC 31.6%, Horner 8.1%, and my computer 2.7%.
ruliemaulana (@ruliemaulana)
10th March 2019, 9:19
Yeah. Maybe the Aussie media just trying too hard to romanticizing the accident on its headline, @coldfly. But I’m envious that you already have FOM official bet apps.
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
10th March 2019, 9:42
But Ericsson was at the race as well remember …. shouldn’t he get blamed also? ;P
CarWars (@maxv)
10th March 2019, 9:46
I blame Ocon
Willem Cecchi (@)
10th March 2019, 20:12
“Erricson hit me!”
FA
10th March 2019, 20:40
@nullapax
Absolutely, if all else fails, blame Marcus. And in fact, it does make sense hahah. He was running 17th, dead last and the only one who was 2 laps behind. Bc of the crash, he magically unlapped himself of those 2 laps and went on almost scoring a point, coming in 11th, less than half a second behind 10th.
FA
10th March 2019, 20:37
I did a detailed analysis and fed all the numbers into the computer: VER was 57.3% at fault, RIC 31.6%, Horner 8.1%, and my computer 2.7%. – May be not so detailed after all, there’s 0.3% missing. And how your computer assigned any blame to RIC at all, means it is biased.
georgeboole (@)
10th March 2019, 22:14
Where is the rest 0.3%?
Cronies
10th March 2019, 9:56
Ric could have won that race if Redbull where prepared to issue team orders in favor of Ric. If the roles had been reversed I doubt for a second Ric would have been told/asked/pitted etc. to clear the way.
Patrick (@anunaki)
10th March 2019, 10:31
This story is getting better and better LOL
Now RIC even could’ve won
He caught Max because of the enormous straight, according to Helmut Marko
FA
10th March 2019, 22:35
And Marko can’t be accused of being biased, right. Marko also contradicted himself in that same interview, saying that it was difficult to get the tyres warmed up (which was obviously true) but also claimed they were surprised VER overcutting RIC. That doesn’t add up, now does it?
RIC was faster all day long. Everybody saw it and even di Resta was calling multiple times for RB to issue team orders as VER was enabling the top pulling away.
And the story does get even better. When the Austrian reporter was asking him questions, the reporter told him RB could’ve won the GP, and this wasn’t objected by Marko, while other findings were.
FA
10th March 2019, 20:34
@ruliemaulana
If Daniel said “the love just wasn’t there” maybe this Baku things is only about feeling not fairness – Hey, that’s a new one. When did RIC say that? Any links?
Maybe Horner is right – Sure, it may not have to do with protecting/boosting your own driver. Horner said exactly the same when VET left.
ruliemaulana (@ruliemaulana)
11th March 2019, 16:22
Hi, FA. It’s in The Sydney Morning Herald piece this article based on.
FA
13th March 2019, 10:00
@ruliemaulana
Thanks for the reference. But I’ve read it, and my point is still there. In your comment you made a completely wrong connection and put things out of context.
“If Daniel said “the love just wasn’t there”, maybe this Baku things is only about feeling not fairness. Maybe Horner is right.” – It was about feeling AND fairness. RIC made the ‘love-remark’ with regards to RB may be not feeling as much love for RIC, because he didn’t sign with them straight away. His last negotiations took about 1.8 year after VER had extended and intensified in the last 8 months or so. He literally talked about this in the interview you got his quote from and said:
“I felt like I had to work too hard to justify what I wanted, and what the performances I’ve had say I should be worth. Perhaps the love just wasn’t there.”
He’s very much talking about ‘the love’ in relation with ‘fairness’, so why connect it with the opposite, talking about “(..) not fairness”?
And then you go on about Horner may be being right, ie RIC “was running from a fight” with Verstappen by leaving the team. So from a total disconnect (that things didn’t have anything to do with fairness), you engineered your way to your desired conclusion: RIC ran away from a fight with your favourite, VER. Even though RIC beat him three years in a row.
Kenneth (@godius)
10th March 2019, 8:40
Daniel’s strategy of dive bombing works when the other car is not a Red Bull, I think he did not oversee the complete picture in Baku.
Tristan (@skipgamer)
10th March 2019, 8:49
At least it works at all, unlike most of Verstappens attempts recently…
If I’m not mistaken Ricciardo was already in front through overtaking in that race until Red Bull reversed them through pit stop strategy.
Matn
10th March 2019, 15:15
Tristan,
Your comment is full of bias….
You implay most of Verstappens overtakes have gone south, while he in fact, mde the most overtakes of all driver in 2018, he also gained most positions during the starts….. so factually the opposite of your statement is the truth.
The you say RBR reversed them through pitstop strategy….factual wrong as well, Verstappens in and outlap were faster, he gaines around 2 seconds in his in and outap… the stop itself was only sec apart…. the simple reason to why Verstappen came out in front was superiour pace
doreo
11th March 2019, 16:07
of course he would have the most overtakes… when you have to always regain positions after you crash… no surprises there XD
Chaitanya
10th March 2019, 12:38
There is also the part of Ric’s former teammate weaving(which is banned in MotoGP for obvious reasons) dangerously trying to break the tow coming out of turn 16. It was the crash prone teammate of Ric on whom the majority of blame lies for the Baku debacle along with the Horner who loves to kiss rear side of the same golden boy.
FA
10th March 2019, 20:41
@godius
He, as always(?), oversaw it all. VER though, with his 20-30 incidents last year alone, did not.
JK
10th March 2019, 8:43
Ricciardo is keep looking for excuses. It’s starting to become embarrassing. He chose money over performance, be a man and admit it.
Tristan (@skipgamer)
10th March 2019, 8:49
He chose being valued over a team that belittles him.
anon
10th March 2019, 9:42
@skipgamer, I am concerned this discussion is going to degenerate into those who, out of a desire to back Verstappen and, by proxy, back his team, want to dismiss and belittle Ricciardo in order to ignore his criticism of the team, and those who in turn want to use this as a way of attacking Verstappen.
Really, though, both of those points miss what looks more like the fundamental problems that Red Bull has in handling their drivers and generally poor relations with drivers who aren’t Marko’s favourite.
Multiple members of Red Bull’s senior management seem to actively worsen any conflict between their drivers, seem to be rather partisan with their drivers and there have been times when the atmosphere within either Red Bull or Toro Rosso, and sometimes both at once, has been described as “toxic” by those within the team due to endemic factionalism that the senior management seem to encourage.
I think that Ricciardo’s decision to leave really says a lot more about how the working environment within Red Bull seems to be geared towards driving antagonism between drivers. Maybe Marko seems to think that it gets the best out of his drivers if they are constantly fighting each other in that way, but it comes across as being more of a recipe for discontent.
CarWars (@maxv)
10th March 2019, 9:59
@anon
There is probably a lot of truth to that.
The netflix series shows how high these pressure/head games escalate and influence performance. On the other hand RedBull i believe is currently one of the few on the grid to make equal performance cars, although the past with Webber not being a great security (lot of conspiracy theory aswell). Maybe the Webber story plays in the back of his head. Its like said these head games that probably made him make his choice.
There are not alot of top teams with true equality but the Max vs. Ricciardo i would have wanted to see in a championship winning car. Could have been a Senna vs. Prost epic level. Of course the big managers dont want all this see second driver nonsense everywhere..
FA
10th March 2019, 20:46
RedBull i believe is currently one of the few on the grid to make equal performance cars – Lets see if this belief stands:
VER had 1 or 2 tech related DNFs. Rests only 1 g-penalty in Russia and 1 start issue in Abu Dhabi, with no implications whatsoever.
RIC: 6 tech DNFs. More, non-DNFing, aforementioned tech issues in Monaco, and France which he completed having driven it for 50% with a broken front wing. Furthermore he had tech issues and/or penalties in the qualis of China, France, Britain, Germany, Hungary, Belgium, Italy, Russia, Japan and Brazil.
Also, it isn’t only about the performance of the car, it’s also about (getting equal) treatment by the team, eg with strategy. I bet Bottas had an equal car as Hamilton, but had to play second fiddle to Hamilton when he could help him. RIC got screwed by the team in Baku, France, Austria quali, Japan and Abu Dhabi. All of these tactical screw ups were because the team protected VER.
So I think this ‘belief’ has to be renounced.
BasCB (@bascb)
11th March 2019, 7:46
That really is the key here Anon. We saw it several times already at the team(s)
David Not Coulthard (@davidnotcoulthard)
10th March 2019, 10:00
idk. That’s exactly what people were saying about HAM after 2012
CarWars (@maxv)
10th March 2019, 10:18
@davidnotcoulthard
from the netflix series a sneer of Horner to Abiteboul: “You have any money left for your engine, now that you spent it all on a driver?
JohnH (@johnrkh)
10th March 2019, 11:39
@maxv Abiteboul
Dane
10th March 2019, 15:13
No one knows yet if Honda will be an improvement over Renault and with the new rules coming after next year there’s likely to be a change in the pecking order. Ricciardo’s gambling like Lewis did with Mercedes.
Tristan (@skipgamer)
10th March 2019, 8:44
Wow… I guess Ricciardo doesn’t run from a fight. I wonder if Horner will have another punch to throw and how bloody this could get 😂
At the same time that article lays one hell of a gauntlet for Hulkenberg, I’d be surprised if he’s going to be content to play follow the leader.
Marcel
10th March 2019, 8:45
If the roles where the other way around mister Ricciardo, Verstappen would have received a monumental grid penalty and at least 3 points on his license.
Verstappen moved twice, that’s very clear. But both moves where before any braking happened. Ricciardo overshot and would never have made the corner anyway. So if you brake to late, and than drive in the back of another car, who is to blame?
Wonderbadger
10th March 2019, 10:33
Marcel, the part you ignored is the fact that when Ver moved across in front of Ric just before braking it meant that Ric lost his front to downforce and therefore a lot of his braking ability. Had Ver not done that Ric would have made the corner no problem.
Matn
10th March 2019, 20:01
Wonderbadger… to me sound a lot like Honeybadger…
If you check the footage of the crash on YT, you’ll see Ricciardo was never beside Verstappen…he should at least have calculated his distance to make it without crashing.
It is not secret both driver had a part in the crash…you can’t simply ignore Ricciardo’s extreme late braking
Fons (@fons)
10th March 2019, 11:12
Bit of an orange tinted glasses you got on mate. There are countless races where Verstappen did some dangerous moves that got no penalty at all.
Silfen (@silfen)
10th March 2019, 11:36
As he was allowed to do, because he was going back to his line. Whether or not this was in the braking zone has nothing to do with it.
That part of the rule was already banned a couple of Grand Prix after it was introduced.
Saad Mughal
10th March 2019, 18:13
No he wasn’t ‘allowed to do’
One change of direction that’s it.
Verstappen made two, and the second wasn’t to ‘return back to the RACING LINE’ as allowed in the rules. He went back to the inside! Which is definitely NOT the rscing line.
The racing line is the fastest possible route around the corner. Approaching a corner from the inside is definitely not the fastest route.
F1oSaurus (@f1osaurus)
10th March 2019, 20:01
Again this. How on earth was Verstappen moving back to his line? He was moving in the opposite direction of where the racing line is!
F1oSaurus (@f1osaurus)
10th March 2019, 20:03
@Marcel, This has nothing to do with braking zone. Weaving is not allowed on the straight either.
FA
10th March 2019, 21:08
If the roles where the other way around mister Ricciardo, Verstappen would have received a monumental grid penalty and at least 3 points on his license. – If it was the other way around, RIC DNFd VER in the same manner, either nothing would’ve happened in terms of penalties and p-points because RB would’ve instructed them what to say, just like they did now, or RIC would’ve gotten a penalty(s), because what he did was prohibited.
Also, VER is the one who gets away with almost everything. Leniant penalty in China after getting frustrated seeing RIC overtaking everybody and heading for the win, Baku triple moving + crowding RIC towards the wall + cutting corners to defend against SAI, Spain hitting STR from behind + not coming in to get rid of his loose front wing, which caused damage to Perez’ car and caused VDO’s DNF; VER should’ve been blackflagged, cutting corners again against SAI in Monaco, hitting RAI in Austria which caused him to win and RAI getting only 2nd, a very leniant penalty for pushing BOT off track in Monza, barging into RAI in Japan without a penalty that had any consequence for him, driving into OCO who’s penalty was a farce.
Verstappen moved twice, that’s very clear. – He even moved thrice to defend his position, but two is already not permitted, full stop. Read the regs before commenting.
But both moves where before any braking happened. – Not true, because the last one was in the braking zone. It’s also irrelevant, changing direction more than once while defending in itself is already not allowed. No need to bring up braking zones. Read the regs. And accept them for once.
Ricciardo overshot and would never have made the corner anyway. – RIC braked at exactly the same spot as earlier laps and overtakes. He braked even earlier than VER. Don’t make things up.
who is to blame? – Verstappen.
Tristan (@skipgamer)
10th March 2019, 8:51
No one can really say for sure what would have happened, Ricciardo is just saying his feelings about the situation were a part of his decision for leaving the team…
hahostolze (@hahostolze)
10th March 2019, 9:04
Interesting this polemic after the move has now happened and everything. Ricciardo seemingly still has it stuck in his head. Hope it doesn’t turn into a red rag or a source of frustration.
You could see it clearly too in the Netflix documentary. Was interesting how the happy-go-lucky Ricciardo turned into quite a sourpuss during it.
Was also very curious about some dubious editing and ‘new’ commentary, which made (amongst other things) Verstappen’s race win in Austria seem like a direct result of Ricciardo DNFing. Ah well, narratives.
ColdFly (@)
10th March 2019, 9:14
That’s actually the most worrying part, @hahostolze.
Fighting the Hulk won’t be a walk in the park either.
CarWars (@maxv)
10th March 2019, 10:03
Ricciardo could just be fighting it because he feels so wronged by Red Bull. Its basically what he is saying. Maybe he was, maybe its in his head in any case he has to let it go to preform against Hulk.
FA
10th March 2019, 21:10
Interesting this polemic (..). Ricciardo seemingly still has it stuck in his head. – First of all, it doesn’t even come close to being polemical, he’s talking about what it made him feel/think last year, not now. And of course he’s not going to for get it, neither did we.
FA
10th March 2019, 21:15
You could see it clearly too (..) Ricciardo turned into quite a sourpuss during it. – Haven’t seen the docu, but here’s a thought: Whenever people are being done wrong, you automatically get some kind of a reaction. You might call it a sense of justice.
Was also very curious about some dubious editing (..) which made (..) Verstappen’s race win in Austria seem like a direct result of Ricciardo DNFing. – Well, that would’ve been wrong. It was a direct result of:
1) BOT DNF-ing
2) VET having a grid penalty
3) MER getting it wrong with HAMs pit stop strategy during the VSC that was triggered by BOTs DNF
4) RB having VER leeching off RICs slipstream in quali and last but most certainly not least,
5) Hitting RAI from behind in the first lap so he could overtake him which proofed crucial with all the aforementioned points happening.
And talking about “dubious editing”, this hitting of RAI, who even came on the radio to report this, was eliminated from the official ‘Race Highlights’.
And what made the fan curious, if he actually saw the docu??
CarWars (@maxv)
11th March 2019, 19:22
You forgot Raikonen getting an advantage in turn 2..
Nice biased points.
FA
13th March 2019, 10:01
Turn 2 is a straight at which RAI was in front of VER and slightly extending that lead. No contact. Then at turn 3 RAI locked up and because of it lost a spot to Bottas in turn 4. So what are you implying? Losing a spot is an advantage? So no bias at all, from me.
And funny how you turn the ‘RAI-point’ into labelling ALL of the five as bias. Good going max.
georgeboole (@)
10th March 2019, 22:19
@hahostolze can’t agree more. It’s like it has always been in Ricciardo’s head since that happened. He clearly was affected the same way Bottas was when he had to let Hamilton pass.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
10th March 2019, 9:38
Similar to the Turkey 2010 situation. That’s Red Bull’s policy, support the guy they feel is their safest bet to win. It’s undeniable they see Max as their long term future, in the same way they saw Vettel as the multiple world champion he turned out to be. Sad for Ricciardo that’s the truth…
That fight at Baku escalated to a point of no return because Red Bull let it. It was their own fault, regardless of the wheel to wheel fight, and which driver was responsable for the crash. It should never have happened, and I guess that’s what Daniel is refering, not Max actual moves under braking or whatever.
hamiledon
10th March 2019, 11:26
very true
Palindnilap (@palindnilap)
10th March 2019, 15:30
Absolutely true.
bosyber (@bosyber)
10th March 2019, 16:23
Yep @fer-no65, that’s my feeling too. That Horner keeps repeating the ‘Ricciardo is running from a fight’ (and dr. Marko opening his mouth) only accentuates that whether he was or not, it likely wouldn’t have been a fair fight.
Ram
10th March 2019, 17:39
Exactly what I was thinking.
F1oSaurus (@f1osaurus)
10th March 2019, 20:07
Turkey 2010 was worse tough. Red Bull was actively helping Vettel to overtake Webber. They told Webber to turn his engine down and at the same time told Vettel he had two laps of extra overtake to get past.
This was before Ferrari did something similar (although they added a verbal instruction) and got slapped with an investigation of team orders.
Marko even lamented after the race that they simply should have told Webber to move over. Apparently not realizing that that wasn’t allowed (yet)
BasCB (@bascb)
11th March 2019, 7:47
Exactly @fer-no65
Matn
10th March 2019, 9:43
The real character behind the smile comes out…. when the team said, “we solve this behind close doors”, Ricciardo already broke that promise in the post race press conference mentioning the words ‘let the fans decide’, knowing ofcourse the fans would blame Verstappen for a double move.
The thing with the moving under braking rule is, there’s a grey area wich Verstappen has mastered to perfection.
The rule actually allows a double move… one defensive move and one move back to the racingline (leaving at least one cars width to the side of the track)…. wich is exactly what Verstappen did…. Ofcourse it was all on the very edge… like Ricciardo’s late braking was as well… he just miscalculated the effect of DRS and tow together. Never was Ricciardo fully alongside Verstappen… or even in sight of passing him. Max was on the outher limits… as was Ricciardo.
The FIA saw that right.
It speaks volumes Ricciardo can’t put it aside… it has been playing tricks on him when he saw Verstappen scoring podium after podium while his car kept on breaking down… Though in quali Ricciardo simply had no answer to Verstappen superiour pace and he never was a factor in races the car stayed alive. Dan was in heaven scoring pole in Mexico, celebrating it as a victory, onlt to see Max pass him in the first 5 meter in the race…. like Baku, like Russia, like Abu Dhabi…even when Dan was ahead, he simply couldn’t make it last.
James Bond (@jamesbond)
10th March 2019, 10:02
Well written and exactly as how I see it.
CarWars (@maxv)
10th March 2019, 10:13
If you watch the nextflix series you get a good insight into how fragile the mind of these drivers are. It majorly effects their performance. I personally think Ricciardo gave up this season and fell into the head games spiral. It does show he is likely not championship material, he gave up already. What he should have done is a Rosberg “No more mr. Nice Guy”, stayed at Red Bull and taken the fight to Max. THAT would have career making, with a one year contract and options at the end of 2019. Now it feels he took the weaker way out and is still complaining.
Just think about Rosberg vs. Hamilton. Rosberg didnt stop for no reason, its thar mentally demanding!
FA
10th March 2019, 22:51
I personally think Ricciardo gave up this season and fell into the head games spiral. It does show he is likely not championship material, he gave up already. What he should have done is a Rosberg “No more mr. Nice Guy”, stayed at Red Bull and taken the fight to Max – That’s why he dominated every single session in Monaco and kept outperforming VER the rest of the season, right?
Rosberg didnt stop for no reason – ROS has a family and a lot of other things going on, a lot of possibilities and capabilities. So he didn’t chicken out, he just reached his goal of becoming WC and moved on.
BasCB (@bascb)
11th March 2019, 8:02
Well, @maxv, I hugely admired the guts Rosberg showed by not giving up that fight until he won his WDC against Hamilton, so I really get what you are saying here about what Ricciardo should have done.
But let’s not forget that you also need the environment to be able to do so. Mercedes was doing their best to keep an open mind on who would win, especially after Brawn left the team. And off course they had the car advantage making it easier to decide to let both guys race.
Red Bull – well, they were not in the same position with their car. But more importantly (IMO) is that this team has never really seen both drivers equally when in such a situation. They hugely favoured Vettel over Webber – probably more in “supportive environment” than in a technical sense, and it is pretty obvious that they are now behind Verstappen, as @fer-no65 mentions above.
With that, the Baku race should be rather seen as a point where Ricciardo fully realized that he was in the “webber position” there, and decided that instead of putting energy in fighting Verstappen and part of the team to have a go, he would rather put his energy into another team.
Blastermaster
10th March 2019, 10:47
‘The rule actually allows a double move… one defensive move and one move back to the racingline’
I think you’ll find that the racing line before a left hander is on the right side of the track.
Silfen (@silfen)
10th March 2019, 11:42
There is not one racing line. Everybody can take a corner as they want.
The rule implies that you may make one move to defend (going offline) and go back to your racing line (not THE racing line)
Saad Mughal
10th March 2019, 18:19
‘not THE racing line’
Actually the rule. Does say THE racing line which any half serious Motorsport fan knows is the fastest way around a corner I. E. Out in out.
Matn
10th March 2019, 15:29
The racingline is were the driver puts his car… the racingline of not defines anywhere, and especially going into the corner a driver is free to chose his line.
Verstappen went right defending, then left back the the line he was before…a perfect move… he weaved about 1 meter in total…quite subtly wich the FIA reckognised as legal. A move 80% of F1 fans will label as illegal cause they see two moves… Meanwhile Verstappen has been accused of weaving quite a lot, but never even once got as much as investigated over it.
If Ricciardo wanted to be valued as a true#1 driver, he simply should needs a bit more pace…. losing this bad in quali would never put him in a position to win a championship…. Mercedes have their #1 driver… eventhough Bottas was more competitive in quali than Ricciardo was.
F1oSaurus (@f1osaurus)
10th March 2019, 20:08
Wrong. The racing line is the racing line. The stewards even compare lines with other cars or previous laps when they decide on what “the racing line” is.
Matn
11th March 2019, 8:57
In your dreams…there’s no such thing as a defined racingline…if you remember Brasil then you’ll know Verstappen did chose other lines…that appeared to be faster. Going into the corner there are no rules about how and where…
Verstappen went back to the line he was in before he made the move…that’s the idea…
The FIA felt the move was legit…you could try and understand to why it was legit, the rest is irrelavant and purely based on emotions
F1oSaurus (@f1osaurus)
12th March 2019, 20:03
Yes there is. It’s not a fixed line, but the racing line is defined by the conditions and how the driver in question and other drivers take the line.
You clearly have no clue what you are talking about. What you are saying is indeed completely based on your loving emotions for Verstappen.
Please try to understand racing.
Read some stewards verdicts referring to the racing line and see that it’s abundantly clear what their definition is. It’s most definitely is not just what the driver decides it to be on a whim.
How on earth would that even work? Why would you even have the notion of racing line mentioned?
Seriousl, just sit back, count to 10, and try to understand what you are saying.
Cronies
10th March 2019, 11:36
It was not about the move as much about how Redbull handled the whole race – Ric was the faster Redbull driver that day and with some team orders may have won the race.
MCBosch
10th March 2019, 15:28
actually he wasn’t, otherwise he wouldn’t be behind Verstappen did he?
Because of the long straight and DRS he was faster on the straight but he wasn’t on other parts of the circuit.
FA
10th March 2019, 23:02
actually he wasn’t, otherwise he wouldn’t be behind Verstappen did he? – So you’re not familiar with the terms ‘overtake’, ‘being stuck behind a slower car’, ‘being out of position’ and the fact that RIC was in front of VER, after he passed him for the 3rd time, before the pit stops, apparently also missed your attention.
Cronies
11th March 2019, 4:51
I think you need to watch the race
MCBosch
11th March 2019, 7:27
https://clone.racefans.net/2018/04/29/2018-azerbaijan-grand-prix-interactive-data-lap-charts-times-and-tyres/
Just select DR and MV and see it for yourself
Roth Man (@rdotquestionmark)
10th March 2019, 10:25
Now this is interesting and I would say almost entirely his reason for leaving. A lot of similarities to Turkey 2010, also involving a slightly less at fault Aussie to his younger golden boy team mate who was thrown under the bus by the team. Maybe Danny looked at the way things went for Mark after 2010 and all the bitterness and thought I don’t fancy history repeating itself. Maybe even Danny spoke with Mark about it all. Or maybe still I’m overanalysing it and Danny has just never forgiven the team for that injustice and the overarching subtle favouritism to Max.
Aleš Norský (@gpfacts)
10th March 2019, 12:07
And so the mudslinging begins…I wondered how long this amicable parting line would hold.
BasCB (@bascb)
11th March 2019, 8:35
It was not completely unexpected for you? You must have been following the sport for a while then ;-)
Oxnard (@montalvo)
10th March 2019, 13:01
I think Daniel is showing some poor selfreflection here. I believe he was equally to blaim. His trick, the divebomb, only works when you catch your opponent off guard. Yet he tried it on his teammate, after doing a dummy move from right to left, who he had been battling for many laps (including cheeky moves from both sides) and had been defending that inside line. Therefor he is just as much to blame. Way too aggressive, and braking way too late. Daniel wanted to make his point that weekend, that he was Red Bull’s top driver for the year, there was just no way that he got beaten by Max and vice versa.
I also doubt he would have made that corner at all and they might even collided without Verstappens move to the left. If you look at the onboards, you see him going for a gap that is hardly there, let’s not forget that if he made that gap, he would have been breaking on the dirt. It was just never going to end well.
And I get that he blames RBR for letting them race so aggresively, but I think Ricciardo was also thinking of teamorders. And to be honost, I don’t think that would have been fair. Daniel was only faster thanks to that massive 1.5 second straight line tow. If they swapped places, Verstappen would probably be in the same position Ricciardo was.
Both made a cheeky move with risk involved, and well, Murphy’s law. Both were equally to blame.
If it was the other way arround, I honostly believe Verstappen would have gotten the blame within Red Bull (even though I believe it was an equal blame). He was already ‘under fire’ for his risky overtaking in Bahrain and China, I think that Marko would have given Verstappen a harder time for wanting to beat his teammate.
bosyber (@bosyber)
10th March 2019, 16:26
Just replying to your last paragraph: but that’s not what happened, isn’t it? Which seems to be what confirmed Ricciardo’s feeling about how this was going to go: along the lines of Turkey 2010, with him not in the Vettel role. In the end I don’t think this needs to be about what the truth is, but what Ricciardo felt the situation was.
FA
13th March 2019, 10:05
Your assumptions about the braking are wrong. RIC braked even slightly earlier than before and braking on that part of the track poses no problems. VER braked multiple times on the inside without being too late.
And there was a gap, but VER closed it (not letting a car width) and when RIC saw it closed, he tried to go back to the right but at that stage a crash was already unavoidable.
If it was the other way arround, I honostly believe Verstappen would have gotten the blame within Red Bull – Well if it was the other way around, RIC would’ve gotten the blame, even within RB. In case you missed it, even Marko now, almost a year later, came clean and has said VER, Marko’s own driver, was the one who could’ve avoided the crash.
Gabriel (@rethla)
10th March 2019, 13:01
Big surprise.
Max is better, hes getting favored, Daniel couldnt stand either of it. His smile did dissapear last season.
FA
10th March 2019, 23:28
He’s still smiling. And he outperformed VER 3 years in a row. May be VER gets to outperform a teammate for a change now, with newbie Gasly.
Markos
11th March 2019, 17:59