Max Verstappen has revealed that his first-lap incident with Lewis Hamilton nearly ended his race in the Spanish Grand Prix, but he managed to finish second at the Madring, securing his fifth podium in seven races this season.
The Red Bull Racing driver explained that he was forced to go off track at Turn 1 to avoid a collision with Hamilton, who he said lost control of his car after hitting the kerb. "I would have had damage at the start if I would have stayed on track, so then the win was also not on. It’s as simple as that," Verstappen said in the post-race press conference.
The incident occurred when Hamilton made a move on the two drivers ahead and bottomed out on the kerb, then jumped back onto the track. Verstappen, who was on the outside, had to take evasive action. He believes that staying on track would have resulted in contact and potentially ended his race at Turn 2.
However, Verstappen was instructed by his race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, to give the position back to Hamilton. With Kimi Antonelli between them, this meant relinquishing two positions. He voiced his displeasure over the team radio but knew he had to comply. "Yeah, what am I supposed to do? If they tell me that I have to do it, then I will do it," he said.
Verstappen is also certain that he would have received a time penalty from the stewards if he had not complied. "If I hadn't done that, then I would have received a penalty. No chance," he added. Nevertheless, he still believes he was in the right, as Hamilton was no longer in control of his car over the kerbstones.
Finishing second was the maximum result according to Verstappen. He admitted he did not have the pace to challenge Kimi Antonelli, who won, or Lando Norris, who lost out by pitting under the VSC. "We maximised the result and probably had a bit of luck with, of course, the unlucky situation for Lando. I didn’t have the pace of Kimi and I definitely did not have the pace of Lando," he explained.
With the points from Madrid, Verstappen now sits sixth in the championship standings. He stressed that the team still needs to improve to consistently fight for victories. "We still lack a little bit to really fight for the win," he concluded.
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