Verstappen apologises to Ricciardo for race-ending collision

Daniel Ricciardo was forced to retire from the Hungarian Grand Prix due to a crash with Max Verstappen, who has apologised to his team-mate.

Max Verstappen has apologised to Red Bull team-mate Daniel Ricciardo for crashing into him and causing his retirement from the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Ricciardo went down the outside of Verstappen into turn two on the first lap at the Hungaroring, but the Dutchman locked up and hit the other Red Bull in an incident that earned him a 10-second penalty.

The Australian – who was fastest in FP1 and FP2 – managed one more turn before spinning out as his car leaked oil on the track, and Verstappen expressed his regret over the incident.

"It's of course not what you want," the 19-year-old said. "Everything started in turn one. The start was actually quite good but then I got squeezed wide by [Valtteri] Bottas and lost quite a bit of speed and then we were both fighting for position in turn two.

"We braked quite deep into the corner but I had a car in front of me and locked the front. From there I was just a passenger. I was trying to avoid Daniel but it was not possible.

"It's never my intention to hit anyone but especially not my team-mate and especially with the relationship I have with Daniel which is very good.

"I apologise to Daniel and also to the team because we could have scored some good points. I'll speak to Daniel in private and we'll sort it out."

Speaking to the media while the race continued, Ricciardo – who branded Verstappen a "f****** sore loser" over team radio – could not hide his frustration.

"For sure it's not on. It was amateur to say the least. It's not like he was trying to pass - there was no room to pass, Valtteri was in front and I was on the outside so there was no room," he said.

"I don't think he likes when a team-mate gets in front. You've got the whole race to try and repair the mistake but the pass was never on. It wasn't even a pass, it was a very poor mistake.

"There isn't an excuse for it."

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner does not anticipate any long-term issues between the duo, but called on Verstappen to learn from his error.

"A very frustrating afternoon because we've effectively lost Daniel and in the same move given Max a penalty and compromised his race," Horner said on Sky Sports.

"He's stuck his hand up and said 'I made a mistake' and we'll accept it and I'm sure Daniel will accept it. They've got a great relationship.

"All drivers make mistakes. The important thing is when you do make one you put your hand up, accept it and apologise. He's done that and I'm sure he'll go see his team-mate and everybody will move on."