F1 Baku 2018 Red Bull crash: Let’s revisit the unforgettable incident between Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen in the 2018 F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
The Red Bull line-up of 2018, comprising of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo, was an explosive one. The team chemistry was tense, and it all came to a boil in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix at Baku.
Ricciardo had tried several times to overtake Verstappen, managing it after a lengthy struggle. But a decision by Red Bull to overcut Verstappen meant the Australian was trailing again.
Ricciardo was in no mood to let go though. He went in pursuit of Verstappen again, and ended up crashing into the back of him, as you can see in the video below.
But the Australian, speaking to The Age and Sydney Morning Herald the following year, squarely put the blame on the Red Bull hierarchy. He also suggested the race in Baku played a huge role in his decision to leave Red Bull and switch to Renault.
“I struggled to let that go, the whole race and the aftermath.
“That played a part in my decision. I never really felt the same after that. As soon as I crashed into him, part of me felt, ‘you guys deserved this, that was a shitshow’.
“If the roles were reversed, if I’d been in front and moved twice in the braking area and he’d run up the back of me, would things have been handled the same way? It was a question I kept coming back to.
“The team treated us as both equally at fault in that situation, where I think deep down they knew that it was their mistake and Max’s mistake. A lot of things didn’t sit well.”
