Verstappen says Monaco penalty "fired him up" to attack Hamilton

Max Verstappen said that once he was aware of the five-second penalty that had been handed to him, he was then "fired up" to attack Lewis Hamilton for the remainder of the race at the Monaco Grand Prix.

Verstappen was handed the penalty for an "unsafe pit-release" following a collision with Valtteri Bottas, that then saw the Dutchman move in front of the Finn when coming out of the pit-lane.

The 21-year-old chose to try and get in front of race-leader Hamilton and build up more than a five-second advantage over the rest of the grid. This made for spectacular viewing, with the remainder of the race being a fierce and intense battle between Hamilton and Verstappen.

Verstappen's place on the podium disappeared at the end of the race, with Hamilton standing ever so firm in defence. He finished in P4, but the Red Bull Racing driver insisted he was not demotivated when he heard about the penalty.

"No, it fired me up," Verstappen said to Motorsport.com. "As soon as I heard about the penalty, I was just pushing Lewis hard because initially, he was driving so slow. 

"I just kept pushing him and then he had to push otherwise I would attack him, and then he destroyed his tyres. That was my only way of trying to get by. I enjoyed it. Of course, it's a shame to finish fourth but I had a fun race."