Verstappen: Vettel apologised so that’s that

Max Verstappen is keen to move on from the Silverstone incident with Sebastian Vettel after the German apologised immediately after the race. 

The Dutchman was on course for a podium when Vettel rear-ended him on Lap 37, sending him into the gravel and down to P5 where he finished.

“I spoke to him, he apologised immediately after he got out of the car, so that’s it. You can’t change your line,” Verstappen said.

Parc Ferme…

Seb gets out of his car and immediately apologises to Max 👏#BritishGP 🇬🇧 #F1 pic.twitter.com/65QQX8mri3

— Formula 1 (@F1) July 14, 2019

Vettel had been passed by Verstappen when he gambled on taking the inside line and hit the Red Bull man, losing his front wing and getting a ten-second penalty in the process.

“I thought the inside was going to open up, it looked like he was pulling back to the middle of the track,” Vettel said of the crash. “But it stayed closed, we crashed and it was my mistake.”

Prior to his battle with Vettel, Verstappen had been fighting with the other Ferrari, Charles Leclerc, and said he enjoyed the racing.

“They were really good, I think he was a little bit sore from Austria so he was defending really hard,” Verstappen said. “But it’s fine, I’m all for that. Of course, I didn’t want to take much risk in those battles to damage the car because I knew we were quite a bit faster.

“I needed to pick my moment but luckily the team did it for me with a good strategy and then it was looking good for a good result.”

The result leaves Verstappen P3 in the Standings, 13 points ahead of Vettel.

The clash between Verstappen and Vettel allowed Pierre Gasly to finish ahead of his Red Bull team-mate for the first time with P4.

The Frenchman was positive after a strong weekend, but believed a podium finish was within reach.

“Happy with the progress we made, I think it was a strong weekend from Friday until Sunday with fourth position,” said Gasly.

“Of course as a competitive guy I was a bit disappointed because the podium wasn’t too far [away], but overall I think we did a big step forward.

“Still a few things to improve, but it was a positive weekend.”

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