Max Verstappen

Verstappen: Poor start contributed to Belgium retirement

Paul Macdonald Sunday 1 September 2019 16:35 Updated: 16:50

Verstappen: Poor start contributed to Belgium retirement

Max Verstappen admitted that a poor start contributed to the collision that ended his Belgian Grand Prix on the first corner.

The Dutchman was slow off the grid at the start, and when he approached the tight first bend too close to the wall he collided with Kimi Raikkonen, sending the Finn's car into the air.

Verstappen attempted to continue but it was clear he had suffered a steering issue in the crash and slowly took his car into the safety barrier.

Raikkonen, meanwhile was able to continue after pitting for repairs.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Max said of the incident: "Poor start, I don't really know why, we'll look into that.

"Maybe I braked a little later than the two cars ahead of me, it was all working quite well but I think Kimi didn't expect me to be there any more.

"So he just did his normal line and we touched, the track rod was broken after that and that's why I went straight on [into the barrier].

"That's racing. These things can happen."

When asked if he was looking forward to getting back behind the wheel so soon after this incident, with Monza in Italy coming just next week, he added: "For sure, but [next week] is not going to be the best for us, but we'll try and make the best of it."

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Verstappen: Poor start contributed to Belgium retirement

Verstappen: Poor start contributed to Belgium retirement