F1: Verstappen apologized to STR for Melbourne dispute

Max Verstappen apologized to his Toro Rosso Formula 1 team for the series of heated radio exchanges as he battled teammate Carlos Sainz Jr. in the Australian Grand Prix.

The Dutchman voiced his disapproval that Toro Rosso chose to pit Sainz first despite Verstappen being ahead on track. He was also frustrated the team did not ask Sainz to move over when he felt he was quicker and in the closing stages made contact with his team-mate.

Sainz and Verstappen met with team principal Franz Tost after Australia to discuss the incidents and have talked about it in subsequent meetings. When asked if he had apologized to the team, Verstappen said: "Yes. I was a bit too emotional.

"It's from both sides. I make mistakes, the team makes mistakes but in the end we are a team and we win and lose together.

"We are a team together. We can make mistakes – we are human. Normally you learn from your mistakes and you put that in place for the next event."

Sainz has said there is "nothing to clarify" with his teammate and Verstappen echoed that view, saying there was no need to sit down privately with his teammate.

"Between us, there are no problems," he said. "It was a bit blown up after Melbourne. We never talked about it because there were no problems."

Tost (LEFT, with Verstappen) said the matter has been put to rest and the team has no plans to alter its protocol of not using team orders unless the strategy requires it.

"We discussed everything after the race," he said. "We explained to drivers what happened and everything is sorted out.

"You must not forget both are very young, both want to make a career in F1 and therefore they are fighting for every millimeter. This is what we want to see and why we have them in the team.

"At Toro Rosso, the philosophy is not to come out with a team order to say you have to let him pass. It is only [used] if we change the strategy, if the drivers are on a different strategy and we think we can have an advantage for team but otherwise, there is no need for them.

"We expect discipline, that they respect each other, that they allow the [other] driver space, that they don't crash and they compete on the racetrack."

Originally on Autosport.com