Verstappen explains reaction: 'If you drive slow, you have to stay left'

Max Verstappen, who starts the sprint race for the Brazilian Grand Prix from P2 alongside McLaren driver Lando Norris, was busy overtaking slow-moving Formula 1 drivers in the pit lane in the final part of the Sprint Shootout. He explains what happened and where things went wrong in his final flying lap.

"It was all very close. Only in the first sector and the beginning of the second sector of my last lap was I not really on top," Verstappen told Sky Sports after the sprint shootout.

Verstappen explains his overtaking in the pits

"I made a small mistake in turn two where I lost the rear, and in turn four, I was just too slow," explained the Red Bull Racing driver, who finished 0.061 seconds behind Norris. "It's always a bit harder when you only have the one set of tyres that you have to risk everything with."

As he exited the pit lane in the final part of the sprint shootout, a somewhat exasperated Verstappen could be heard on the team radio. A new rule from the FIA no longer allows stopping at the end of the pits, which caused several F1 drivers to drive slowly in the pit lane. On that, the Dutchman said, "If you drive slow, you have to stay left. I wanted to go fast, so I just tried to overtake a lot of cars."