MONTE CARLO, Monaco -- After crashing out of final practice at the Monaco Grand Prix, Max Verstappen could not explain why he has struggled to stay out of trouble at the opening six rounds this year.
In Australia he spun while chasing Kevin Magnussen's Haas at the start of the race, in Bahrain he spun in qualifying and made contact with Lewis Hamilton in the race, in China he crashed into Sebastian Vettel and in Baku he crashed in practice as well as colliding with teammate Daniel Ricciardo in the race. At the Spanish Grand Prix he also lost part of his front wing against Lance Stroll's Williams, but went on to score a podium by the end of the race.
Gearbox damage from Saturday's accident ruled Verstappen out of qualifying and he will start last on Sunday's grid, which will be headed by Ricciardo on pole position.
Asked to explain why he had been involved in so many incidents this year, he replied: "At the moment I can't."
He added: "I wouldn't call Barcelona an incident. I think this, together with China, were my mistakes. It's of course not what you'd like to happen, but unfortunately it happens."
Verstappen clipped the barrier on the entry to the second part of the swimming pool complex and slammed into the wall on the exit. Just before the incident he had to negotiate his way around the slow-moving Renault of Carlos Sainz, but said that was no excuse for the mistake.
"I clipped the inside barrier ... I'd got a little bit caught off guard with the slow car, but that's not an excuse -- I hit the wall.
"I don't know, it's all happening that quick at that stage when you get a little bit distracted, I guess I just turned in a little bit earlier than normal -- or clearly turned in earlier..."
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner said Verstappen needed to learn from his mistakes this year and Verstappen said he would review the incident in order to learn from it.
"I think here, Monaco, it's of course very easily done compared to other tracks. We'll look at it, see what we could have done better. We still have a race to do tomorrow.
"The team will always be behind me, in good and bad times. It goes either way. Last year, with a lot of engine problems and stuff, I was exactly the same. We work as a team. You win and lose together."