Max Verstappen denies he’s caused six incidents in as many races following the crash which ruled him out of qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix.

The Red Bull driver is under increasing pressure following his latest crash, which means he will start this weekend’s race from the back of the grid.

However he denied suggestions he’d been responsible for at least six incidents in as many races.

“I wouldn’t call Barcelona an incident,” he said, referring to his contract with Lance Stroll which damaged part of his front wing. “I think this was, together with China, my mistake. It’s of course not what you like to happen but unfortunately it happens.”

Verstappen admitted he had been momentarily distracted while passing Carlos Sainz Jnr before his crash, but said he would not use that as an excuse.

“I clipped the inside barrier,” he said. “I got a little bit caught off-guard with a slower car. But that’s not an excuse. And I hit the wall.”

Red Bull didn’t realise Verstappen would need to change his gearbox until they fired up his car shortly before qualifying began, Verstappen revealed.

“[It was] a bit of a rollercoaster. You’re preparing, thinking you’re going out knowing that after qualifying you may change your gearbox. It was just unfortunate that when they fired up the car, we saw the leak, and then we knew it was too late to make it happen.”

Verstappen’s incidents in 2018

Race Session Incident Australia Race Spun, losing places Bahrain Q1 Crashed Bahrain Race Collided with Lewis Hamilton China Race Went off trying to pass Hamilton China Race Collided with Sebastian Vettel Azerbaijan Race Collided with Daniel Ricciardo Spain Race Collided with Lance Stroll Monaco FP3 Crashed, missed qualifying as a result

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2018 F1 season