Verstappen: “more fun in second than going for fastest lap in fourth"

Verstappen picked up a five-second time penalty for an unsafe release from the Red Bull team which caused a small collision with Valtteri Bottas and a discussion was made as to whether they would pit again.

But the Dutchman was happy sitting in second and trying to battle it out to gain the lead and potentially the win rather than pit again for fresh tyres and go for the fastest lap.

Verstappen said (quoted by Crash.net): “We had that discussion, but I also had a fair chance of maybe getting by and then you win the race.

The main reason Verstappen stayed in contention with Hamilton and attempted a risky overtake near the end was because the Mercedes driver had been running on medium tyres a lot longer than they could last.

“For sure. He was so slow in Turn 5 and 6 that we had a lot more,” Verstappen added.