Back in the 2016 US Grand Prix, Verstappen misunderstood a call from his engineer and pitted when he shouldn’t have.
When he entered the pit lane, no one was ready to change his tires, causing him to lose precious time.
Unexpected Pit Stop Chaos
Gianpiero Lambiase had told Verstappen to "push now," but he thought it meant to come in for new tires. "I was like, ‘Oh, my God, what did I just do?’ I’m in the pit. I’m like, ‘Guys, Guys, I’m pitting, I’m in the pit,’" Verstappen recalled. The team scrambled around, grabbing random tires for an unplanned stop that took about eight or nine seconds.
Fans might think this was a moment of pure chaos!
Unfortunately, things got worse when his car had engine trouble soon after. In just three laps, something went wrong with his gear, and he had to retire from the race. Helmut wasn’t pleased with Max’s mistake. "I f***** up," Max admitted.
Verstappen explained that everyone makes mistakes because they’re not robots. "You can’t hide it," he said about owning up to errors. He mentioned how Marko appreciates honesty and dislikes excuses.
What do you think? Should drivers be more careful with radio messages?
