Max Verstappen has clarified comments he made after the Bahrain Grand Prix, suggesting a driver who refused to race after a crash should be dropped.
Following Romain Grosjean’s horrific crash on Sunday, a couple of drivers, notably Daniel Ricciardo, voiced unhappiness at the persistent replays shown the TV broadcast, which they could see from the pit-lane.
Asked though if teams should have given the drivers an option not to restart the race, the Red Bull man was quite blunt with his result.
“I don’t get why you wouldn’t race,” Verstappen said. “If I would be the team boss, I would kick them out of the seat [if they didn’t].”
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Then earlier this week in a team Q&A, the Dutchman put those comments into more context.
“I think people misunderstood what I meant,” said Verstappen.
“What I was trying to say is that as drivers we know the risks when we get in the car and if anyone has doubts they should consider stopping racing.
“There is nothing wrong with that if you feel uncomfortable to race but we are part of a team and they rely on us to do our job which is driving the car.
“Had Romain not walked away obviously things would have been very different on Sunday,” he conceded.
“I think back in the 1960s and 70s it was way more dangerous and the drivers of that era were still going out on track because they knew it was their job and that’s what they loved to do, even though they knew the risk was very high of losing their friends around them.
“The safety in place now is incredible and I respect everyone’s own decisions but that is how I feel.
“Nobody ever wants to see an accident like that but all that really matters is that Romain is OK.”