Max Verstappen blasts F1 rival after 'dangerous' Monaco Grand Prix incident

Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen blasts F1 rival after 'dangerous' Monaco Grand Prix incident

Max Verstappen was not happy with Gabriel Bortoleto

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Monday 26 May 2025 09:43

Max Verstappen was left unimpressed by the actions of one of his Formula 1 rivals at the Monaco Grand Prix.

On the narrow, windy streets of Monte Carlo, drivers sitting on the racing line is even more of a problem than at other circuits on the F1 calendar, with not much room to manoeuvre.

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Lance Stroll found that out the hard way during Friday's first practice, when he drifted into the path of Charles Leclerc having not seen the Ferrari car behind him, and ended his session as Leclerc went into the back of him and badly damaged Stroll's gearbox and rear suspension.

Elsewhere, however, four-time champion Verstappen was involved in a near miss with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto in FP2, narrowly missing out on a big crash as the Brazilian began to get to grips with a circuit at which he has never driven an F1 car around.

Verstappen was furious, taking to team radio to tell engineer Gianpiero Lambiase that, despite it only being practice, the error in judgment from Bortoleto to impede the Dutchman when he was on a hot lap was 'unacceptable'.

"**** mate, unbelievable these guys," Verstappen proclaimed during FP2. "So dangerous! I know it’s only practice, but for me that is unacceptable.

"That kind of impeding, it’s so dangerous in that swimming pool," he concluded, talking about the iconic swimming pool section of the track.

Verstappen misses out with Monaco gamble

With it being just a practice session, Bortoleto was not given any punishment by the race stewards, but if the incident had happened during qualifying, it would likely have been a different story.

Verstappen had hoped to claim a second consecutive race victory this weekend, to stay in touch with McLaren stars Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris in the drivers' championship standings.

However, he was forced to settle for fourth place in Sunday's race having been forced to make a pit-stop on the final lap under the mandatory two-stop rule.

The Dutchman, like all drivers, would have been hoping to get as many laps in as possible during the three practice sessions, as drivers try to get used to a circuit that is completely different to any other on the calendar.

Any incident that may hamper practice time can be absolutely crucial for drivers, which may have been why Verstappen was so furious with Bortoleto's mistake.

F1 Max Verstappen Charles Leclerc Lance Stroll Monaco Grand Prix Gabriel Bortoleto