Verstappen cooled down: 'At the stewards you hear the other side of the story'

Max Verstappen collided with Lance Stroll on Friday afternoon in practice. Verstappen thought he could overtake the Racing Point driver in turn one, but didn't have enough room to move up the inside. Verstappen was furious immediately after the incident, but in the evening he calmed down a bit.

"I've been with the stewards and then of course you hear the other side of the story," says Verstappen in conversation with Olav Mol at Ziggo Sport. "He turned out to be in his 'build up lap', because the tyres were very difficult to warm up. Some immediately did a fast lap, others built it up first and then drove a fast lap".

Wrong estimation Red Bull Racing leads to misunderstanding

Because Stroll drove quite a fast lap before that, Red Bull Racing thought this should already be the fast lap of the Canadian and communicated this to Verstappen as well. He then assumed that Stroll would pull out of the way after the start/finish. That turned out not to be the case.

Verstappen thought he would have to pass him on the inside of turn 1, but didn't realise that Stroll went full throttle and didn't see him. "He had no idea at all that I was next to him. At least, that's what he said to the stewards. So that's how we bumped into each other. Very unfortunate in the end."