Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri have each given their take on the Lap 1 incident that kickstarted a difficult race for them both in Abu Dhabi, with Verstappen receiving a penalty for the clash while Piastri dropped down the order and faced a tough recovery drive.
With Lando Norris enjoying a strong start from pole, Verstappen surged forwards to battle Piastri for P2 but contact occurred between them, resulting in both cars spinning and dropping backwards.
The stewards went on to hand Verstappen a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision and, when reflecting on the clash later on, the Dutchman admitted that this had been the beginning of a challenging evening for him en route to a final result of P6.
“The start was good again – they have been pretty good all year,” Verstappen commented. “I went up the inside, of course I was not all the way alongside so I tried to then back out of it on the apex, tried to run onto the kerb but the damage was already done and we clipped with Oscar’s left rear with my right front.
“That was really unlucky, I hate coming together. It was just really… swear word! Yeah, it’s not what I want to happen of course, and after that it was just a very difficult race. We didn’t have the pace also, so a bit of a shame.”
2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix: Chaos on the race start as Piastri drops to last after contact with Verstappen
Piastri also had a tough Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, having later received a penalty of his own for hitting the back of Franco Colapinto’s Williams before crossing the line in P10.
Asked during a chat with Sky Sports F1 if Verstappen’s move had been optimistic, Piastri responded: “I mean probably yes, but he came and apologised straight away, and the stewards deemed it was a penalty so we go again next year. Obviously it was a tough race from then on but we achieved our main target today, that’s all that matters.”
Despite it not being the smoothest race for Piastri, the Australian admitted that the fact that McLaren sealed the constructors’ title in Abu Dhabi made it a little easier to deal with.
“It was a pretty miserable race for myself!” Piastri conceded. “But I think of course the biggest thing today is we clinched the championship and it’s a massive credit to everyone at McLaren for what they’ve achieved this year and couldn’t be prouder of them all.
“Very, very happy with the year’s work and obviously today was tough, but nice to seal the deal.”
Verstappen brands Lap 1 collision with Piastri as ‘really unlucky’
Like team mate Lando Norris, Piastri’s focus is now on trying to fight for both championships in 2025.
“I think hopefully we can come out the blocks strong next season and mount a challenge from the start,” the 23-year-old said. “I still have some things to work on and improve, but I feel like it’s been a good step up from my rookie season on the whole. Excited for next year, excited for a bit of a break first and then go again and try and fight for both championships.”
Verstappen, meanwhile, is keen for Red Bull to work on improving their car after what has been a season of mixed fortunes for the Milton Keynes squad.
Reflecting on what had been a difficult weekend for the team, the world champion added: “It’s nothing weird or surprising, it’s just that sometimes we peak, sometimes we have some difficult races.
“We just need to find more consistency and we need to improve our car, as simple as that. So this weekend of course doesn’t really add anything else to that – we know what we have to do.”
Piastri: ‘The mission is to take that next step for next season’