Verstappen and Ricciardo ordered to make Red Bull F1 factory apology

Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo have been ordered to make a personal apology to Red Bull staff at the Formula 1 team’s factory for their collision during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. 

The pair came together under braking on the run to Turn 1 as they squabbled over fourth place in the closing stages of the race in Baku, as Ricciardo slammed into the rear of Verstappen’s RB14 - taking both drivers out on the spot. 

Team principal Christian Horner was left fuming by the clash which cost the team a large haul of points, with both drivers running comfortably in fourth and fifth prior to the incident. 

He revealed Verstappen and Ricciardo have been asked to make an appearance at Red Bull’s Milton Keynes headquarters to apologise to team members ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix. 

"In Barcelona they will be fine, I have no doubt about that," Horner told Sky Sports. But they are both in the dog house. You can see that in their body language.

"They will be in the factory to apologise to all the staff prior to the Barcelona race. Things get discussed behind closed doors, but the drivers at the end of the day drive for a team and they both recognise that they have screwed up today.

"They will be apologising to the team, and all members of the team, because it is a team sport and that seemed to get forgotten about."

Ricciardo and Verstappen touched earlier in the race and went wheel-to-wheel on a number of occasions in Baku, but Horner said Red Bull saw no reason to employ team orders as the pair had been battling “hard but fairly”. 

"There were probably three incidents between the two of them over the course of the grand prix," he added.

"They touched wheels earlier in the race, they have been told to calm it down a bit - their engineers are managing and working with the drivers. But we don't want to interfere in letting them go wheel-to-wheel. They have been very good at that up to this point.

"And what we have always said - give each other room on track and we will let them race. They have just about done that through the grand prix until that unfortunate incident.

"I am not apportioning blame one way or the other, to either of the drivers - they are both to blame in this and it is the team that unfortunately misses out.”

Despite their collision, Horner insisted Red Bull wants to continue to allow its drivers to race one another freely. 

"Our intention is to continue to let them race but they have got to show the team and each other respect, and give space.

"They have been reminded that they are part of a team and they have a responsibility in the role that they perform that they are both highly paid individuals to act with the team's interest at heart, not just their own. The message was delivered very clearly."