Max Verstappen believes former teammate Daniel Ricciardo was 'really unfortunate' to crash out of the Japan Grand Prix.
Ricciardo and Alex Albon had barely started the race when they both span off track and smashed into the tyre wall. Only seconds had passed when race control were forced to come to the decision to raise the red flags and to stop the race altogether due to the damage done to the barriers.
The duo escaped injury but were unable to continue as the race was restarted at Suzuka with the first sector incomplete. Ricciardo made a slow start in Japan and lost several places on the way down to turn one.
The field came through that corner unscathed but the Australian ended up in danger as he found himself amongst the back-markers. The RB driver was unable to avoid light contact with the Williams of Albon and that sent both off of the track.
Ricciardo was sent into a spin and smashed into the tyres, while 28-year-old Albon was unable to steer himself off the grass and also crashed.
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The unfortunate pair had the sympathies of their colleagues following the race as winner Verstappen conversed with fellow podium finisers Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz in the cooldown room.
“That was a big shunt, huh?” said the Ferrari driver after claiming third. Perez replied: “He was just in the blind spot.”
The damage to Ricciardo and Albon's car was substantial (Getty Images)Verstappen said: “You could see Daniel looking left, at the left side. It’s really unfortunate.”
Albon agreed with Perez in suggesting that Ricciardo was unable to see him. The Thai-British racer recognised the potential for danger but was unable to escape from his position quickly enough.
Albon said: "I think I had not a great start, but obviously a bit better than the medium tyre [drivers]. I had good traction coming out of Turn 2 and that was it really.
“I don’t think Daniel saw me and then it was just a bit of a pinching moment. I tried to back out of it but couldn’t quite get out of the way quickly enough. It was a tough one to take. Obviously we’re not in a great position as a team with parts and just general damage for the cars.”
Ricciardo offered his own explanation of the crash. The 34-year-old admitted that initially his focus was on the Aston Martin on his left.
“We were just kind of scrambling obviously for some grip," he said. "By Turn 2 it had settled a little bit, but then I remember getting out of 2 still with a little bit of lack of traction and I remember an Aston on my left, so I was kind of watching that car.
“Then, as I was starting to drift to open up 3, I felt Alex. I saw his onboard and he just had so much better drive out of 2. I don’t even know if he wanted to be there, but he could see me kind of going a little bit sideways.”
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