Daniel Ricciardo’s pole position celebrations at the Mexican Grand Prix left Max Verstappen ‘very angry’, according to the Dutchman’s father Jos.
Verstappen won Sunday’s race but only after his Red Bull teammate beat him to pole position by 0.026s on Saturday. The qualifying result deprived Verstappen of the chance to become the youngest driver ever to secure pole position, a record that currently belongs to Sebastian Vettel and will be out of Verstappen’s reach by the end of the season.
Verstappen was the quicker of the two Red Bull drivers throughout practice, but Ricciardo celebrated the turnaround by dancing and playing to the cameras when he jumped out of his car. Verstappen was clearly frustrated at the time, knocking over the second place marker he was required to park behind when he came to a halt on the grid, and his father said his son was still furious later that evening.
“I was not really happy myself, but I spoke to him (Max) before bedtime,” Jos Verstappen told Ziggo Sport. “I tried to calm him down a bit, he was particularly angry because the car was out of order. That pole position is nice, but winning is of course much more important.
“He was especially annoyed by missing the pole and by the car, but also by Ricciardo. He celebrated his pole position with an exuberance as if he had become world champion. He (Max) was very angry.
“He was greatly exasperated and wanted only one thing, that was winning the race.”
Verstappen went on to win the race by over 17 seconds while Ricciardo retired from second place with 10 laps remaining. After the race the 21-year-old said Saturday’s frustrations focused his mind on winning Sunday’s race.
“The only option was to win for me,” he said. “That was in my head and, of course, that’s why I was very disappointed on Saturday but we made it up on Sunday, so of course I’m very happy with that.”