Verstappen - "There was no reason to let him past"

Toro Rosso got their money’s worth from their drivers during today’s Singapore Grand Prix. Max Verstappen stalled at the start and was lapped by the front runners whilst the team got the car going. Carlos Sainz suffered a gearbox issue on the first safety car restart but managed to resolve it on track.

Despite these issues, the Red Bull juniors managed to pull themselves back up into the points, but not without some controversy along the way. As Verstappen tried to find a way past the Force India of Sergio Perez for 7th, the team asked the Dutchman to let his team mate past. He point blank refused.

“The whole race I had great pace,” Verstappen told Sky Sports F1, “I was pulling away from everyone in the midfield. I was catching up to the guys in front, so there was no reason to let him past. I think if it was the other way around, it [would be] the same thing.

“I just enjoyed my race, especially after being one lap down. I can be happy with this.”

Sainz said: “We played the team card to let the guy on the new tyre to at least try. I just wanted that shot and he never gave it to me.”

Sainz wanted to copy what Red Bull did in Monaco, where they asked Daniil Kvyat to let Daniel Ricciardo past to try and attack Lewis Hamilton for the podium. When they realised Ricciardo could not pass him, they let Kvyat take the position back from his team mate.

“We get on very well,” Sainz added, “This is not an issue for me. When we put our helmets on, we are obviously rivals. Sometimes when you put on the helmet, you also have to think for the team.”

Toro Rosso team principal Franz Tost told Sky Sport’s Ted Kravtiz: “Carlos had new tyres, therefore we thought that we can switch positions, but Carlos was too slow. He was too far behind.

“Carlos was always, minimum, 3-5 tenths behind. If he wants [us] to swap the positions then he must be closer to him, otherwise it doesn’t make sense.”

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