Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has finally conceded Max Verstappen could have avoided the collision with then-teammate Daniel Ricciardo last year in Baku.
The two drivers enjoyed a back-and-forth battle on the streets of the Azerbaijani capital which saw the Australian finally get ahead on track only to fall back behind the Dutchman during the pit-stop phase.
Ricciardo would close back in but, when going for the move into Turn 1, would run into the back of the 21-year-old as he lost braking capacity in the dirty air of the sister Red Bull that had moved back across.
“Verstappen could have avoided the accident, since Ricciardo was too fast,” Marko told Motorsport.com.
“He had not made the turn. He should have used the exit strip. Max should have gone to the side but instead, we got a scandal.”
The Austrian then explained the situation which had led to Verstappen getting back ahead in the first place via the pit-stop.
“Verstappen told us that his tyres were gone and his lap time had just dropped by more than three-quarters of a second,” he explained.
“Then Max got the signal to come in and suddenly he drove two green sectors with tyres that, according to what he had said earlier, were at their end!”