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Niki Lauda: "Drivers should pay for Red Bull crash"

Published on 30 Apr 2018 13:34
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By: Rob Veenstra

Red Bull's drivers should have to pay for the damage to their cars after colliding in Baku. That is the view of Niki Lauda, whose fellow Mercedes chief Toto Wolff said after the clash on Sunday that F1 drivers "sometimes go too far".

"I've been in Christian (Horner's) position," Wolff said after Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen crashed. "On the one hand you want two equal drivers who are not afraid to fight. But we have to remind them that hundreds of people work 24 hours a day to give them the car," he added.

Lauda, the Mercedes team chairman, said that in Horner's situation, he would "go home and cry". "My view is that Verstappen is 70 per cent guilty, Ricciardo 30 per cent guilty. You cannot move like that in a straight line. Eventually the poor guy had nowhere to go. What would I do? I would bring them to my office and make them pay for the repairs," Lauda added.

However, Horner and fellow Red Bull chief Dr Helmut Marko would not apportion blame, saying both drivers were now in the "doghouse" and would have to apologise. As for Lauda's suggestion of a financial penalty, Horner answered: "Niki thinks about the financial side more often than most of us in the paddock. For us the most important thing for Daniel and Max to realise is that it was completely unacceptable."

He said Red Bull's philosophy is always to let the drivers fight, but "We will discuss it before Barcelona".

F1 race director Charlie Whiting admitted "both drivers could have acted more circumspectly", while Ricciardo said the incident won't damage his relationship with Verstappen. "We are not angry with one another," said the Australian. "We just want to apologise to the team. It's all we can do." (GMM)

ajpennypacker

Posts: 2,475

Red Bull has managed this pretty well. Daniel and Max did a perfect job minimizing the downstream effect from this, even apologizing to the team immediately instead of blaming each other. That being said, I think most people would agree that Max carried more blame for that crash for moving under ... [Read more]

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Apr 30 2018 - 16:30

F1 News Max Verstappen Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing

Replies (12)

Hooligans Racing

Posts: 901
Did Hamilton and Rosberg pay when they collided in Spain 2016?? Lauda shouldn't interfere with other teams .. i am sure he wouldn't like it when Horner does the same if it was the Merc drivers!
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- Apr 30 2018 - 14:19
calle.itw

Posts: 8,527
I disagree with him. As Hooligans said, I havent seen Hammy or Rosberg pay a single penny for e.g Spain 2016, which was straight up embarrassing. Either way, it was what it was, lets move on from it.
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- Apr 30 2018 - 15:26
- boudy
  
  Posts: 1,168
  Is he more interested into destabilising drivers in order to get an advantage fof Mercedes. Some how I got the feeling there was more at stake than just an overtake; Ricciardo seemed desperate for that overtake and went into an space that wasn't there.
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  Apr 30 2018 - 15:42
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  Wouldnt surprise me, not very fond of Lauda anymore. I think it was down to frustration. Ric was all over Verstappen's rear all the time, yet he wasnt let through, and when he finally did get past he had a poor outlap and Ver got past again.
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  Apr 30 2018 - 16:53
mcbhargav

Posts: 1,332
If Nico, and Hamiltion didn't pay for repairs, how about minding once own business.
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- Apr 30 2018 - 15:47
F1_IS_Dead

Posts: 123
Mercedes should pay a refund to all F1 viewers. They are not a racing team. No one wants to see their remote controlled drivers, who are not allowed to get even close to each other. Two races ago Bottas could not even overtake for the win. He was too scared of the consequences.

Red Bull is doing something for the viewer. Their battle was displayed on TV the entire time and the crash was the highlight of the race. Lauda is the one who should go home and cry.
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- Apr 30 2018 - 15:48
- ajpennypacker
  
  Posts: 2,475
  I think you mean Ferrari not Mercedes. Or perhaps you're ignoring the intra team crashes at Mercedes, the hard racing, and constant tension between Nico and Lewis. Is it different under Bottas? Sure, but it's not because they're not allowed to fight.
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  Apr 30 2018 - 16:27
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  It wouldnt surprise me if they have a deal like that in place with Bottas, mind. Remember how Nico vs Hammy tore the team in two? Not even Merc' can afford that.
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  Apr 30 2018 - 23:37
ajpennypacker

Posts: 2,475
Red Bull has managed this pretty well. Daniel and Max did a perfect job minimizing the downstream effect from this, even apologizing to the team immediately instead of blaming each other. That being said, I think most people would agree that Max carried more blame for that crash for moving under breaking. Yes... I know it's not a rule, but I think we now see why it was a rule for decades. I love watching Max race and I think he's a prodigy, but this year something is very off with him.
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- Apr 30 2018 - 16:30
- Sirhenry
  
  Posts: 759
  I find this review one of the best ...take a look..
  streamable.com/zcwrf
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  Apr 30 2018 - 21:39
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  The rule remains in the sense that driving "unsafely" can net you a penalty. I just hope this wont be a thing this year. As you say, he is a good driver, and I feel that the kind of incidents he has been in so far is wasting his talent.
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  May 1 2018 - 09:11
Patentprutser

Posts: 390
Niki, see a psycho. You’re talking rubbish
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- May 1 2018 - 12:00