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Formula 1 Monaco GP
Verstappen needs to stop costly errors - Horner
Red Bull boss Christian Horner says that Max Verstappen "needs" to stop making mistakes, after the Dutchman blew his chances in the Monaco Grand Prix with a practice crash.
Jonathan Noble
Edited: May 26, 2018, 7:17 PM
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With Red Bull's car in a class of its own around the streets of Monte Carlo, Verstappen had looked set for a thrilling battle with teammate Daniel Ricciardo for the pole position spot.
But it all went wrong at the end of final free practice when Verstappen crashed – damaging his car and putting him out of qualifying after the team discovered a problem with the gearbox late on.
He will start from the back of the grid.
Horner has admitted that the situation for Verstappen was especially frustrating because the car was so quick but, after a run of crashes this year, he thinks the time has come for him to learn his lesson.
"This place bites," Horner told Channel 4. "He got bitten pretty hard today in a session that doesn't really count for anything other than setting the car up.
"He is in a car that is capable of winning this grand prix and that will hurt him even more. You don't get that many opportunities to win a Monaco GP.
"He needs to learn from it, and stop making these errors. He knows that more than anybody.
"I think it was a pretty painful qualifying from him, watching what could have been."
When asked if there was a chance that the Monaco practice error would ram home the point that Verstappen needs to change his approach, Horner said: "I hope so. I don't know what else will.
"We have a great car. He is a phenomenally fast driver and would have been competing for the pole position today.
"For the whole team with such a strong car to be only be running one legged is frustrating. But I have to complement all the guys in the garage, with both car crews doing their best to get him out in that session but unfortunately that wasn't to be."
Late gearbox
Verstappen's failure to make it out in qualifying came after it only emerged shortly before the session started that there was a problem with his gearbox.
Explaining what had happened, Horner said that it was only when the car was fired up following earlier repair that the issue came to light.
"The car was fired up and we saw the oil leak in the gearbox which had been hidden by a shroud and that was it," he said.
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