Verstappen defends ignoring team order

Max Verstappen believes he was proven right to ignore Toro Rosso team orders during the Singapore Grand Prix.

The Toro Rosso driver had been close behind Sergio Perez for a number of laps late in the race following a recovery from a lap down, but was unable to pass the Force India for seventh place. With Carlos Sainz following his team-mate, Verstappen was asked to allow Sainz through with five laps remaining.

Verstappen sternly replied "No", and later explained he saw no reason to allow his team-mate past.

“First of all, if you’re one lap down and you manage to be back in the points as the leading Toro Rosso, then for me there is no reason to switch positions," Verstappen said. “With Checo, we couldn’t have got past because his top speed was unbelievable.

“After the second time I made it quite clear I didn’t want to do it, and at the end they told me it was the right decision.”

Verstappen said he had briefly spoken to Sainz after the race, claiming there were "no problems" with his team-mate and that he would swap positions in a different situation.

“It’s quite clear, if you are on different strategies then you let him go, but we were on the same strategy.”

With team principal Franz Tost defending Verstappen's decision, the 17-year-old also revealed his father Jos took a similar view:

“He told me if I had let him past he would have kicked me in the nuts!”