Verstappen on Hamilton-contact: "Just wanted to brake late and see what happened"
F1 News
- Nicolás Quarles van Ufford
Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen has no regrets when it comes to his little incident with Lewis Hamilton, where the two drivers made contact as the Dutchman sent it down the inside of Hamilton, as Verstappen just wanted to see whether he could make the move stick.
Verstappen was right behind Hamilton for the bulk of the race, making the Brit uncomfortable and forcing him to up his tempo, destroying his tyres. In the final laps of the race, Verstappen started to attack, and eventually he went for it at the end of the tunnel, sending his RB15 down Hamilton's inside.
However, the reigning champion shut the door and the two touched, with Hamilton going straight through the chicane. No damage was done to either car, but Verstappen simply knew he had to go for it, knowing he had a penalty.
"I knew that I had that penalty, so I had to push Hamilton," he told Ziggo Sport.
"He was going very slow and because I was pushing him, he had to speed up. That's why his tyres were gone, and he couldn't really get through the corners."
Verstappen knew he had to overtake Hamilton and create a big enough gap to nullify his five-second penalty, so he eventually went for the overtake.
"I didn't get good drive coming out of the corners, which is why I couldn't place an attack. I tried everything, and on the end [of the race], you just go for it.
"I just wanted to brake late and see what happened. We had no damage so it wasn't an issue. P4 is just a shame because we've deservedly been driving in the podium places.
"Still, we can be happy about the weekend."