Jos Verstappen: “Max needs to think more”

Max Verstappen’s father Jos has played down his clash with Sebastian Vettel as a simple “error of judgement” during the Chinese Grand Prix having seen a potential victory slip away.

After Red Bull pitted both of its drivers for fresh soft tyres under the safety car, Verstappen emerged from the pits in fourth place and in front of teammate Ricciardo. As the race strategies played out it was clear the new tyres Red Bull opted for made its drivers much faster than its Ferrari and Mercedes rivals, while Verstappen held track position over his teammate  which made the Dutch driver look an initial favourite for victory.

But a risky move around the outside of Lewis Hamilton at Turn 7 saw him go off track which allowed Ricciardo to get past him which opened up the Australian's opportunity to storm through the front-runners and claim a dramatic victory.

After eventually getting past Hamilton, Verstappen attempted a late move up the inside of Vettel at the hairpin but locked his rear brakes which sent him into the side of the German driver which caused both drivers to spin.

Verstappen was slapped with a 10-second time penalty for the incident with the Ferrari driver which saw the 20-year-old finish a demoted fifth place.

Jos Verstappen, a former F1 rostrum finisher, accepts his son made the wrong choice trying to overtake Vettel but has urged against trying to alter his aggressive style.

“The overtake on Vettel really wasn’t on. It wasn’t possible. It was an error of judgement,” Verstappen told Ziggo Sport's Peptalk. “In some circumstances Max just has to think more.

“I don’t want him to change his driving style. He passed two people at the start. He did that perfectly. That’s what we all want to see.

“But we don’t want to see these kinds of actions. He needs to have it under control. He needs to think.”

Verstappen’s clash with Vettel in China became his second high-profile incident in the space of a week after colliding with Hamilton on the opening lap of the Bahrain Grand Prix which ultimately ended his race prematurely with a puncture with the knock-on impact on a broken differential on his Red Bull RB14.