Ricciardo: Verstappen's errors will "iron out"

Daniel Ricciardo had said that he is "satisfied" with the apology that he received from Max Verstappen following their first lap collision at the Hungarian Grand Prix, and believes that the 19 year old's errors will be "ironed out".

After a poor start, Verstappen found himself falling through the field, being challenged for position by Ricciardo after being forced off the track in turn 1. In an attempt to reclaim his lost fifth position, the Dutchman launched an attack up the inside of turn 2, but locked up and ran into his team mate. This subsequently forced Ricciardo to retire from the race and Verstappen being handed a ten-second time penalty.

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Verstappen went on to finish in fifth place in the race despite the penalty he received, and after being branded as an "amateur" by Ricciardo, apologised to his team mate post-race. Ahead of this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix, the Australian driver confirmed that this incident is now behind him.

"Max said to the press he offered me a beer, but he actually offered me a spliff, which is pretty easy to get in Holland," said Ricciardo. "You look back and at the time you're kind of heated, you're just like, 'let me speak to the media now and get it all off my chest'. Is it better to wait a little bit? Maybe.

"At the same time, it's also good for people to see your emotion, and anyone who has a competitive bone in their body can understand the heat of the moment," he added. "I think as well for me that weekend I was frustrated after Saturday. Friday was a great day, and Saturday we had the problem in P3, and I didn't feel like I got everything out of it in Q3.

"I was talking about the race on Saturday, so I was already kind of pumped for that, so I built to go and have a good race, and it was all over just like that. I had a lot of fuel in me which I didn't get to burn, so that was frustrating, but after the race Max pulled me aside, we spoke one on one, and it was all I could ask from him.

"Obviously he can't give me points back, or anything like that, but at least he did that... it was sincere and we shook hands, so I was satisfied," he admitted, going on to say that he believes that Verstappen will continue to improve as a driver as his career develops.

"I think it'll get ironed out," he said. "I made a comment, calling him a sore loser, there wasn't too much reference with that, I think it was just me trying to say something! But the comment I made, [about him trying to] make it up, it's probably similar to here [at Spa] last year… he had a front row, didn't get the best jump and tried to make it up straightaway

"It's kind of those little things, where it's not the first time he's done that. Is it a weakness? I don't know if it's a weakness, I just think it'll get ironed out over time. It's probably just youth at the moment," he concluded.

Chris Soulsby