Max Verstappen has apologised to Red Bull team-mate Daniel Ricciardo after the pair made contact on the opening lap of the Hungarian Grand Prix, bringing an end to Ricciardo's race.
The pair found themselves fighting over fourth place but as they approached Turn 2 on Lap 1, Verstappen's front-right tyre contacted Ricciardo's sidepod, damaging his radiator and causing a puncture.
Verstappen was hit with a 10-second time penalty, but had he not been, it's likely he could have challenged for a podium finish.
"I think the situation started from Turn 1," explained Verstappen. "My start was actually quite good but then I got squeezed a bit wide on to the astro-turf and lost quite a bit of speed.
"Then Daniel and I were both fighting for position at Turn 2 so we braked quite deep into the corner. I had a car in front of me so I lost quite a bit of downforce and locked the front tyres, from there I was just a passenger. I was trying to avoid Daniel of course but unfortunately that was not possible.
"It is never my intention to hit anyone, but especially not your team-mate, and especially with the relationship I have with Daniel, it's always really good and we can always have a laugh.
"This is not nice and I apologise to Daniel for that and also to the team because we could have scored some good points here."
Verstappen said he would hold private talks with Ricciardo to discuss the matter, after the Australian called his move "amateur".
"I'll speak with Daniel in private and we'll sort it out," he added. "It was actually a positive Sunday in terms of pace. It’s not nice what happened in the beginning of the race, so I’m of course not happy with that, but at least the car is moving forward."
