AUGUST 1, 2017

Verstappen apologised with Dutch beer

Max Verstappen said sorry with a bottle of Dutch beer after punting his Red Bull teammate out of the Hungarian GP.

Daniel Ricciardo was furious after the crash, swearing about the 19-year-old on the radio and showing him the middle finger as he returned to the paddock.

But Verstappen's growing reputation for being a self-proclaimed "a--hole" did not extend to the area of apologies, with Ricciardo confirming that they spoke before leaving Budapest.

And De Telegraaf newspaper reports that the apology took place fuelled by a peace offering in the form of two bottles of Dutch beer, delivered personally by Verstappen.

"Did I drink both beers? What do you think?" Verstappen said.

And Australian Ricciardo told Germany's Auto Bild: "Max apologised to me and took the blame 100 per cent. I accept the apology so I'm done with it, but it's impossible to change what happened anyway."

Red Bull officials also backed Ricciardo and Verstappen to patch things up, although Dr Helmut Marko thought Max's FIA penalty was too harsh.

"It was an overly severe punishment, but this may have something to do with the past when he was impetuous," he said.

(GMM)