Lauda: Verstappen is no longer a young person in F1

Max Verstappen has been accumulating errors since the beginning of the year. Author of a spin in Melbourne (Australia) and a collision with Lewis Hamilton in Sakhir (Bahrain) forcing him to abandon, the pilot Red Bull did it again last weekend when he hit the Ferrari SF71-H Sebastian Vettel.

As a result, the stewards imposed a ten-second penalty on Max Verstappen who was still able to maintain his fifth place. On the other hand, Sebastian Vettel lost big since the Championship leader fell to eighth place and he now only has a nine-point lead over Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) while he was fighting for a third consecutive victory.

“It was completely Max’s fault, confirmed Niki Lauda, ​​non-executive vice-president of Mercedes, to Press Association Sport. You have to become smarter the more you gain experience, especially when you want to fight for victory or the title, but he doesn't take that path and no one can help him. »

Max Verstappen apologized to Sebastian Vettel after the race, aware of his responsibility for the incident. The Red Bull driver, only 20 years old, is already playing his fourth season in F1.

“He’s not a young person. He's old for F1 now. He has the same position as everyone else”, added Niki Lauda.

Max Verstappen was also penalized two points on his superlicence and currently has five units out of the twelve allowed before a suspension race.

Discover the analysis of the Chinese GP carried out by our special correspondents in issue 2161 of AUTOhebdo, available from Monday evening in digital version on all platforms, and from this Wednesday on newsstands.