F1
Nate Saunders, General Editor, F1 6y

'Unnecessary' Versappen crash down to impatience, says Helmut Marko

Formula 1

Max Verstappen's costly crash in Monaco was caused by his impatience, according to Red Bull motorsport chief Helmut Marko.

Verstappen ruined his weekend in the closing stages of the final practice session, hitting the wall at the Swimming Pool chicane and damaging his car. He missed qualifying as a result and was forced to watch on from the Red Bull garage as teammate Daniel Ricciardo claimed a comfortable pole position.

After the crash, TV cameras caught Verstappen in animated conversation with Marko, the notoriously ruthless head of Red Bull's driver programme. Verstappen has been involved in a series of spins, collisions and crashes this year; the most recent prompted team boss Christian Horner to say the Dutchman must learn from his mistakes stop making errors.

Marko believes Verstappen needs better situational awareness.

"He has to learn not always to drive flat out," Marko told BBC Sport. "They are all different incidents but this one for sure is a very unnecessary one." "I think he is not patient enough. He wants always to who he is the fastest but the result is only when you cross the line. He needs to be more patient, judge the situations better."

Asked if he felt Verstappen had a certain issue he needed to address, Marko said: "Issue is maybe not the right word. It is always a different situation but they are all because he is impatient."

Verstappen's form has been under the microscope this season. In Australia he spun while chasing Kevin Magnussen's Haas at the start of the race, in Bahrain he spun in qualifying and made contact with Lewis Hamilton in the race, in China he made a mistake while trying to pass Lewis Hamilton and then crashed into Sebastian Vettel, in Baku he crashed in practice as well as colliding with teammate Daniel Ricciardo in the race. At the Spanish Grand Prix he also lost part of his front wing against Lance Stroll's Williams, but went on to score a podium by the end of the race.

China was perhaps the most costly before Monaco, as Verstappen had looked set to capitalise on the race's late Safety Car period to win. His error handed the initiative to Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo, who won the race. After qualifying Verstappen insisted Red Bull would always support him through tough times. He was unable to offer an explanation behind his struggles so far in 2018.

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