Vettel defends Verstappen

Sebastian Vettel followed from afar the duel between Max Verstappen and Kimi Räikkönen at the Hungarian Grand Prix for fifth place. The pilot Red Bull resisted energetically against the 2007 world champion by changing direction several times, even causing a collision with the Finn.

The four-time world champion believes that this behavior on the track can be explained by the youth of the Dutchman, only 18 years old, who made his debut in F1 last year and is campaigning for a relaxation of the regulations even if the Red Bull driver was not penalized unlike Jenson Button due to a radio message.

“We are here to run. One of Max's strengths is that he is very aggressive, comments Sebastian Vettel. He sometimes exceeds the limits, but I am against the penalty policy with very complicated regulations. It's becoming absurd, people from outside are laughing at us. We have to work on this. It's a bit difficult for us drivers because we can't do much. »

“Max will calm down, we have to give him time, predicts the pilot Ferrari. Obviously, it's never great when you're fighting with a car in front of you and its behavior is not exemplary. Kimi is one of the fairest drivers on the track, but sometimes that's the way things have to be. The race is long, the season is long, and I'm sure they'll meet again at some point. »

Discover the analysis of the Hungarian Grand Prix carried out by our special correspondents in issue 2073 of AUTOhebdo, available now in digital version on all platforms and on kiosks.