Sainz on overtaking Verstappen: 'The toughest thing to do'

Max Verstappen could not keep up with his rivals in the sprint race for the Brazilian Grand Prix. First the Dutchman was overtaken by George Russell, but soon Carlos Sainz also followed. However, the two drivers collided, which also allowed Lewis Hamilton to easily overtake the damaged RB18. According to Sainz, the incident is just part of racing.

In the press conference after the sprint race, Sainz explains the situation with Verstappen. It was pretty tight when the Ferrari driver overtook the Dutchman. Contact occurred between the two drivers, causing Verstappen considerable damage to his front wing. The Dutchman was then soon overtaken by Hamilton. If the sprint race had been a lap longer, Sergio Perez could also have passed his teammate.

Sainz: 'I think it was fair'

"It was tight. I mean, yeah, whenever you're about to overtake a Red Bull, you know, you're going to have to risk it on the braking. Because obviously on the straight it’s not like you can pull side by side," Sainz said. Afterwards, Sainz spoke to Russell and Hamilton about overtaking the RB18. The drivers agreed that it was not easy.

"That passing a Red Bull was probably the toughest thing to do. But, yeah, I had to send it a bit under braking, obviously locked up a bit and went a bit long, which ended up having a bit of contact with Max, but I think that's also fair. I think it's part of racing. In the end there was no main damages to both of us," the Spaniard added. Verstappen still managed to limit the damage and crossed the finish line in fourth place. The Dutchman was at a disadvantage on medium tyres anyway, while the rest of the field was on softs.