Max Verstappen responds to Carlos Sainz criticism after ‘jungle’ midfield overtake in Miami
The overtake above from Max Verstappen drew criticism from Carlos Sainz on Sunday.
Max Verstappen shrugged off Carlos Sainz’s criticism of his midfield overtake, joking it was “a bit of a jungle” back there.
The Red Bull driver came past his former Toro Rosso teammate in what Sainz later described as “a bit of a crazy move” into Turn 17, outbraking the Williams driver from a long way back to take the inside line on his recovery through the pack.
Max Verstappen addresses Carlos Sainz midfield overtake criticism
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Verstappen had dropped to the back of the field in the early stages of the Miami Grand Prix, spinning on the exit of Turn 2 and managing to keep his RB22 on track, resuming in 16th after an early pit stop during the Safety Car period after making an early pit stop.
After catching Sainz on the road, the Red Bull driver pulled off an ambitious move into the final hairpin, with Sainz straight-lining his steering wheel to avoid contact and, with a tight pack behind him, he lost positions before working his own way back into the top 10.
Sainz took to team radio after Verstappen came past and said: “He pushed me off. He thinks he can do whatever he wants because he’s racing the midfield!”
Verstappen had enjoyed his best weekend of the season up to that point in terms of competitiveness, placing his Red Bull on the front row alongside Kimi Antonelli before having to work his way through the field, eventually finishing fifth.
Speaking to PlanetF1.com and others about his ‘aggressive’ moves after the race, the four-time world champion initially asked “what was aggressive?” when Sainz’s radio exchange was raised.
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Sounding confused as to why that move at the final hairpin was brought up and presented with the Spanish driver’s comments, he replied: “I don’t know. It’s a bit of a jungle in the midfield, so I don’t know what to say.”
Sainz, for his part, finished ninth at the end of the Miami Grand Prix, with him and Alex Albon having secured Williams’ first double-points finish of the season.
The 31-year-old assured there was “no disrespect” after Verstappen’s move, but he was asked to expand on that message earlier in the race.
“No disrespect, but what he did into [Turn] 17 is almost like a launch, knowing that because we’re the midfield, we were not going to fight him, and we were going to have to let him by at some point. But what he did there is borderline,” Sainz said.
“It would probably stem [from] a bit of frustration of the spin and tried to get back to the front as much as possible.
“I mean, it’s racing. I’m not going to criticise it too much. It’s just, at that point, it felt like we were going to crash, and he took me off the track and I lost three positions, so it was frustrating.”
Verstappen moved up to seventh in the Drivers’ standings after a much-improved weekend with Red Bull, though he still sits 74 points behind early championship leader, Kimi Antonelli.
Additional reporting by Thomas Maher
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