Failures not Verstappen’s fault - Ricciardo

Daniel Ricciardo says his Red Bull teammate is not to blame for a run of technical failures.

Amid rumours he has been offered a seat at Ferrari for 2018, Max Verstappen has not hidden his fury with his current situation at Red Bull in recent races.

His father Jos has even denied rumours they are trying to deliberately breach the Red Bull contract.

But Marca, a Spanish sports daily, quoted a driver as saying in Austria that he heard Verstappen "would not come here to race this weekend because he has signed for Ferrari".

"Then I heard yes, he is coming," the unnamed driver added.

As for Verstappen’s run of technical problems, another rumour is that it could be the 19-year-old’s aggressive driving style that is the problem.

"He has beaten me in the last four qualifying sessions, so maybe he’s driving too fast and the engine can’t take it," Ricciardo joked to Brazil’s Globo.

"No, I don’t think you can say Max is causing these problems."

And the Australian is also quoted by De Telegraaf: "It’s not his fault. Max is just very fast.

"Last year we were pushing each other and the longer we are teammates, the more that is. I just have to make fewer mistakes," Ricciardo added.