Nico Rosberg believes Daniel Ricciardo took Max Verstappen out during their infamous Azerbaijan 2018 crash.
Ricciardo and Verstappen spent three seasons together as teammates at Red Bull. These three years saw them develop a pretty good relationship off-track, but on it things were not so smooth.
They were both fighting to be Red Bull’s number 1 driver and more often than not, it fell in Verstappen’s favor. It ultimately drove Ricciardo to leave Red Bull, which he did in the 2019 season. However, the tensions between them peaked during the 2018 Azerbaijan GP.
When Ricciardo and Verstappen came together in Baku 😮 pic.twitter.com/8zg0Gn6meI
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) June 9, 2022
Verstappen and Ricciardo were fighting for the fourth position during the 40th lap of the race. The latter was finding ways to get past Verstappen before he drove into the rear of his car at the end of the main straight. This caused a big collision, taking both drivers out of the race.
It led to a massive fall-0ut behind the scenes, and both drivers were made to apologize to the workers of Red Bull’s factory.
Also read: Valtteri Bottas holds the record for highest speed recorded at a Grand Prix with 231.4 MPH
Nico Rosberg blames Daniel Ricciardo over Max Verstappen
Ricciardo attended a podcast session hosted by Nico Rosberg back in 2019. Rosberg himself knows too well about colliding with a teammate who is also a rival. He and Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton were fighting for the 2016 Title when they took each other out at that year’s Spanish GP.
In the case of Azerbaijan 2018, Rosberg did not hesitate for a second before revealing that it was Ricciardo’s fault in his eyes. He said this while Ricciardo was in podcast with him.
Daniel Ricciardo & Max Verstappen crashing during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix 🇦🇿#F1
Who do you think was at fault? #AzerbaijanGP pic.twitter.com/NE1uwgUufH
— Motorsport Images (@MSI_Images) April 29, 2018
“Azerbaijan now, you’re racing Max and you’re at fault,” says Rosberg. “My opinion was that you were more at fault. Was that not the conclusion?” When Ricciardo learnt about Rosberg’s opinion that he took Verstappen out, he jokingly declared that the podcast was now over.
After a turbulent 2018 season with Red Bull, the honey badger decided that it was time for him to leave the Milton-Keynes based outfit. He joined Renault in 2019 and spent two years with the French team earning two podium finishes. Thereafter, he switched to McLaren in 2021, a team he is struggling massively at as of today.
