Afterward, Red Bull Racing team boss Christian Horner said that Verstappen had received a “gentle warning” about his future conduct.
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MONZA, Italy (AP) – Max Verstappen raised eyebrows again in the final practice session for the Italian Grand Prix on Saturday, while Mercedes teammates Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg were once more 1-2. I thought there was Kimi on the inside, but it turns out there were three cars. Vettel admitted that, the room he gave at turn one was only for one auto, without realising there were two cars.
“I haven’t seen anything like that since the (Michael) Schumacher times, or (Fernando) Alonso in Spain, or Nigel Mansell at Silverstone”.
“We can not confuse the fans about two very different incidents: one on the middle of the straight, like Verstappen and Kimi, or in braking areas like me in Australia [when he crashed into the back of Haas’s Esteban Gutierrez]”, said Alonso.
“I didn’t say death by driving”.
‘I have no problem with Max. “We can not sign it here but everyone should be happy we are going to keep the race at Monza”. “It’s just certain things, at least in my opinion, it’s not correct if you have to slow down or brake at full speed”.
That prompted Verstappen to hit back in the Dutch media on Friday at Monza, where he referenced Villeneuve’s crash in the 2001 Australian Grand Prix when a marshal was killed by a stray wheel after the Canadian’s BAR got airborne following contact with Ralf Schumacher’s Williams. Like I said, I have nothing personal against him, but certain things are not correct.
“I’ve no interest to call Max into it but obviously if somebody says during the race that he does something because of what happened in the first corner, that it’s payback, I don’t think it’s the correct sport to start purposely paying back something that has happened before”.
“It can end up in a very bad way”.
“We’re just not quick enough yet”, Vettel said, after Ferrari finished further behind Mercedes than in last year’s qualifying.
Verstappen’s aggressive driving at the Belgian Grand Prix was a major topic of discussion at the Thursday media day at Monza, with Ricciardo and several of his peers clearly frustrated by the repeated questions on the subject. “I remember Sebastian [Vettel] getting criticized a few years ago, and there have been a few other drivers that history has demonstrated who have shown that fighting spirit”.
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“So, for me, it would be a dream if I could win this race here in red”.
