Red Bull explain Verstappen's damage: Carbon from AlphaTauri

Max Verstappen was fastest on track in the opening stages of the British Grand Prix. Carlos Sainz was overtaken and the gap grew to around two seconds. The reigning world champion was not able to enjoy the race for long, as a piece of carbon fibre caused floor damage. It is now known how this happened.

AlphaTauris causes damage for Verstappen

On lap 12, Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda in the two AlphaTauri cars were driving in a neat seventh and eighth place. The Faenza-based team had a dramatic Friday in terms of speed and qualifying was helped a little by the rain. However, Q3 was not achieved and with two cars well into the top ten, it seems to be a matter of consolidating. Tsunoda spun, however, taking Gasly with him and preventing both from achieving a good result.

The consequences were greater than that, however, as the touch caused a piece of carbon to lie on the track. Max Verstappen, driving for 'big brother' Red Bull Racing, had to go into the pitlane early on. He also lost a lot of downforce because of the damage. Christian Horner confirmed to Adam Cooper afterwards that Max Verstappen damaged his car out due to Tsunoda's slip.

Perez does take the podium

Sergio Perez also suffered damage early in the race after a collision with Charles Leclerc. He had to come in early to replace his front wing but eventually managed to recover well by finishing second. "The recovery driver from half a lap down to the podium is an incredible result," Horner told Sky Sports.