The cost of Max Verstappen’s crashes during the fraught and intense 2021 season has been revealed. His incidents on track cost Red Bull close to an eye-watering €4m, the third-highest figure among all drivers behind Mick Schumacher of Haas (€4.2m) and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc (€4.1m). Verstappen’s tally is more than three times that of his fierce rival Lewis Hamilton, who set Mercedes back €1.2m over the year, according to Sky Germany.
Of course the Dutchman, who clinched his maiden world title in thrilling but controversial fashion at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, would put some of that cost down to Hamilton himself after blaming the Briton for their high-speed incident at Copse Corner during the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, one of the fastest turns in Formula 1 where the pair made contact and Verstappen was sent flying across the gravel into the barriers.
The cheapest driver to fund this season was Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, whose crashes cost only €280,000 – 15 times less than Schumacher. The bosses at French team Alpine will surely be grateful to their man for that.
Follow all the latest F1 news below.
