Verstappen: Running wide in Hamilton Brazil F1 battle was the “safer” option

Verstappen and Hamilton went head-to-head yet again for the victory on track at Interlagos.

On Lap 48, Hamilton attempted to go around the outside of the Red Bull driver into Turn 4, with Verstappen running the seven-time champion wide as the pair ran off the track completely.

Verstappen remained ahead with his aggressive defence noted by the stewards, but it wasn’t investigated.

Toto Wolff said it was “laughable” Verstappen wasn’t penalised, while Christian Horner felt that the stewards were “fair”.

Explaining why he had to run wide at Turn 4, Verstappen said: “We both of course, tried to be ahead into the corner, and so I braked a bit later to try and keep the position and the tyres were already a bit worn.

“So I was really on the edge of grip, so that’s why I think I was already not fully on the apex. And it’s a safer way, of just running a bit wide there. In a way I was, of course, happy that the stewards decided that we could just keep on racing, because I think the racing in general was really good today.”

Verstappen couldn’t resist Hamilton several laps later, relinquishing the lead into Turn 4.

“Yeah I knew when we went through Turn 3 that he was going to get ahead because he was super close,” Verstappen explained.

“Already two times before that I was really starting to struggle on traction and tyres so I knew it was going to be really tricky, but you never know, I just tried to do the best I could. Once he got by, I was hanging on with the tyres at the end.”

Even though Verstappen missed out on his second career victory in Brazil, he still enjoyed the battle with his main title rival.

“Yeah like I said, of course I like to win, but you can enjoy the battle right? I was a bit of a sitting duck, but in a way I just tried to do the best I could and in a way, that’s fun and nice for everyone watching,” he added.