Max Verstappen has accepted the blame for the incident in final practice which left him unable to participate in qualifying for the Monaco GP.
The Dutchman was on a flying lap when the slow-moving Carlos Sainz on the entrance to the Swimming Pool complex was enough of a distraction for him to misjudge the entry to the second chicane and hit the inside wall which subsequently sent him in the barrier on the outside.
Though Red Bull were able to fix his car in time, when fired up a gearbox problem required a change which couldn’t be done in time and means Max will start the race from the back of the grid or the pit-lane.
“I have to look at myself, l made a mistake. This was my mistake,” Verstappen told Sky Sports. “I got caught off guard [by a slower car] but that’s not an excuse and I hit the wall.”
It was just the latest in a number of incidents the 20-year-old has been involved in this year with collisions in the three races prior to what some thought would be a key third place in Barcelona to turn his season around.
“Together with China, this was my mistake. Of course, it’s not what you like to happen but it happens,” he claimed.
As for his chances in the race, Verstappen conceded hopes of a good result were bleak.
“We know we have pace here but it is so hard to pass and when you get held up there is little you can do.”
Though he has been defiant in the face of criticism and calls to alter his approach this season, team boss Christian Horner does think the impact of his crash in Monaco could just the moment that causes greater reflection.
“This place bites and he got bitten pretty hard today in a session that doesn’t really count for anything, other than setting the car up,” said the Red Bull chief.
“He’s in a car that’s capable of winning this Grand Prix and that will hurt him even more because you don’t get that many opportunities to win a Monaco Grand Prix.
“He knows that more than anybody and I would imagine that was a pretty painful qualifying for him watching what could have been.
“There’s no more brutal lesson that what he’s just had. I’m sure that he’s smart enough to hopefully learn from that.”
