Daniel Ricciardo taken out of Hungarian Grand Prix by teammate Max Verstappen

DANIEL Ricciardo has spoken on his fiery incident with Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen, after he ended his Hungarian Grand Prix.

Red Bull's Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo leaves the circuit. Pic: AFP

AUSTRALIAN F1 star Daniel Ricciardo has commented on his blow up with Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen after the 19-year-old’s “amateur” mistake sent him crashing out of the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Sebastian Vettel eventually won the race, with Verstappen coming in fifth. But for Australian fans, the race was over after the very first lap.

Ricciardo commented on his run-in with Verstappen on social media, saying his frustration boiled over after he looked like acheiving another positive result in Hungary.

“Yesterday was hard to take,” Ricciardo tweeted.

“You build up all day for those couple of hours of racing and then it’s gone like that.”

The Australian confirmed that he had a discussion with his teammate post-race, where Verstappen apologised and said he was content to move on and put his attention towards the next Grand Prix.

2/3... Max apologized to me after the race and we spoke one on one away from media or anyone.

— Daniel Ricciardo (@danielricciardo) July 31, 2017

3/3... The situation was handled and taken care of in the right way to move forward.
Lights go out again in 4 weeks 👍🏼

— Daniel Ricciardo (@danielricciardo) July 31, 2017

Ricciardo started the race in sixth, one place behind his Dutch teammate. He passed Verstappen on the second corner, but as both cars reached the next turn, Verstappen collided with Ricciardo, sending him off the track and irreparably damaging his car.

“Someone hit me. Is that who I think it was?” a furious Ricciardo asked over the team radio.

“Yes,” the team replied.

“F***ing sore loser,” Ricciardo said.

Red Bull's Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo (L) and Red Bull's Dutch driver Max Verstappen (R). Pic: AFP

He hadn’t calmed down much when he spoke to reporters a short time later.

“That was amateur to say the least. It’s not like he was trying to pass. He doesn’t like people passing him,” Ricciardo said.

“I didn’t really know what happened. It’s just frustrating, it was not even an overtaking move. It was an emotional response.

“I don’t think there is an excuse for it.”

Verstappen, for his part, was apologetic after the race.

“This is not nice and I apologise to Daniel for that, and also to the team, because we could have scored some good points here. I’ll speak with Daniel in private and we’ll sort it out,” the Dutch teenager said.

“It is never my intention to his anyone, but especially not your teammate, and especially with the relationship I have with Daniel. It’s always really good and we can always have a laugh.”

There probably wasn’t much laughing today.

The crashed car of Australian Formula One driver Daniel Ricciardo. Pic: MTI via AP

VETTEL’S TRIUMPH, HAMILTON’S CLASS

Sebastian Vettel, meanwhile, increased his drivers’ world championship lead to 14 points when he led Kimi Raikkonen home in a dominant Ferrari one-two finish.

In his 50th race for Ferrari, the four-time champion German controlled the contest from pole position in stifling heat to reel off his first win in five races since the Monaco Grand Prix. His main title rival, Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes, finished fourth.

Hamilton showed his worth as a team player when he let Valtteri Bottas through to take third place on the podium.

“I respect Lewis for that, it really proves he is a team player,” Sky Sports’ Anthony Davidson said after the race.

“He’s still got a shot at this championship and there he has really played the team game.”

I really don't like Hamilton that much but today he's shown that he's a team player. Brilliant of him to let Bottas through. Respect.

— Talkative Rocker (@beewol) July 30, 2017

If #Hamilton really just gave #Bottas that 3rd place position, then that most definitely makes him a team-player. We love that! #HungarainGP

— Thabile Ngwato (@ThabileNgwato) July 30, 2017