Ricciardo looks back on Baku crash with Verstappen: "They deserved this"
F1 News
When the two were teammates at Aston Martin Red Bull Racing, Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen collided during the Baku Grand Prix. In the Beyond the Grid podcast, Ricciardo explains his view of the crash in detail.
"I was pitted first and then eventually Max came back out in front of me so then I was furious. I said to the guys surely they're just going to let me go this time. I came on the radio, he's going to let me past. But my engineer said 'no you're racing Max' which means no team orders," Ricciardo said.
"I sold him the dummy. There was enough room originally on the inside, he closed it and we crashed. I'll be honest at the time of impact I was like 'who cares, they deserve this'. That was my honest feeling. I wasn't sad that I just lost points, I was like 'Oh 'fu*k you guys.'. Everyone saw it coming. I thought then it was 50/50 but then I didn't believe that.
"The week after that, I decided in my mind that I need to move on. But then you go Monaco a month later and I have the highest of highs and I was like 'oh I was just emotional in Baku' but that was a tough moment to move on from."
A few months later, Ricciardo decided he was moving to Renault for the 2019 season. During his first season at Renault, the team took a step backwards while Red Bull moved forwards with their Honda engine.