Max Verstappen confirms Pierre Gasly played part in Canada practice wall hit

Max Verstappen

Verstappen confirms Gasly played part in wall hit

He was lucky not to suffer serious damage.

Matthew Scott

Friday 7 June 2019 22:47

Max Verstappen confirmed that the dirty air thrown out by Red Bull team-mate Pierre Gasly's car played a role in him brushing with the 'Wall of Champions' in FP2 at the Canadian Grand Prix. Verstappen was fortunate not to suffer major damage when he thumped the wall at the final turn.

Verstappen saw his qualifying simulation lap go down the tubes as a result of the incident, although that was the full extent of the harm.

Approaching the final turn, Verstappen's entry was compromised by Gasly moving slowly into the chicane and the Dutchman confirmed there had been some confusion as he bolted down the long straight.

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"I had Pierre in front of me and I think he was told to speed up, but I don't know exactly what happened then," said Verstappen.

The Wall of Champions is calling...

And Max *almost* answers it, with a solid skim halfway through FP2 😬#CanadianGP 🇨🇦 #F1 pic.twitter.com/nCrV2XQHD8
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 7, 2019

"I arrived into the chicane, understeered, and basically in the wake of his car I understeered into the wall.

"It's a shame. We missed a bit of running because of that, but when we were running I think we looked quite decent.

"Not perfect but we still have some work to do."

Perhaps trying to exonerate himself, Gasly said he was only in the way of Verstappen as the team had been sluggish to inform him that he was fast approaching.

"They told me quite late when I was preparing my lap behind Romain [Grosjean]," he said.

"When they told me I started to push and then he was five seconds behind.

"They told me he hit the wall, but I didn't exactly see what happened. I was trying to prepare my lap but I am sure we will see and talk about it."