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Marko reveals Verstappen was in tears in Monaco after crash

Marko reveals Verstappen was "in tears" in Monaco after crash

14-01-2019 09:01
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Nicolás Quarles van Ufford

Red Bull Racing advisor Dr Helmut Marko has revealed his driver Max Verstappen was reduced to tears after his silly crash during FP3 in Monaco last year, as the Dutchman threw away a potential pole position and race win by crashing.

The Bulls were the clear favourites when the F1 circus arrived in Monaco, with both Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo dominating all practice sessions. Verstappen, who still had a chance to be the youngest pole sitter ever at that point, was one-thousandth of a second behind Ricciardo on FP3.

He was on a flying lap when he got held up by the slow car of Carlos Sainz at the swimming pool, but rather than slowing down, he went around and subsequently crashed. His RB14 was broken and couldn't be fixed in time for qualifying, meaning he had to start from last place, throwing away his chances for a potential win.

“It started with Hamilton [in Bahrain]," the Austrian told Motorsport Total when talking about Verstappen's many early-season slip-ups and crashes.

"Trying to overtake Hamilton on the outside was a bit bold.

“Or let’s take Monte Carlo: in the first two practice sessions, Ricciardo was ahead of him on the timesheets by two-tenths. [During FP3] at the swimming pool, [Verstappen] arrived behind Sainz. If you have a car in front of you at Monaco, you can forget the lap and immediately abort.

“You don’t need to try to squeeze yourself past but he did. Of course, Sainz also did his share, after all the two were big rivals at Toro Rosso.

“Max is not stupid, he was in tears in the pits, he knew. He’s fast enough, he does not have to constantly prove he’s the fastest, he does not need that.”

After Monaco, the crater of his season and perhaps of his F1 career, the Dutchman dramatically turned his season around. From Canada onwards, he was consistent and as rapid as he's ever been, collecting over ten podiums and two wins in the rest of the season. Marko gives credit where it's due.

“From Le Castellet he was flawless,” he concluded.