F1 News, Reports and Race Results

Red Bull: no team orders in Kvyat/Verstappen duel

Christian Horner insists there was not any team order in the Singapore Grand Prix duel involving Daniil Kvyat and Max Verstappen, who replaced the Russian at Red Bull earlier this season.

After a slump in performance that seemed “never-ending” to him, Kvyat enjoyed one of his better weekends since being demoted back to Toro Rosso ahead of this year’s Spanish GP.

Having jumped the slow-starting Verstappen on the opening lap, Kvyat found himself having to defend from the Dutchman later in the race. The 22-year-old was reminded over team radio that he was racing McLaren-Honda’s Fernando Alonso but he refused to yield and Verstappen eventually had to back off to save his tyres.

Asked whether the reference to Alonso was a coded message for team orders, Horner replied: “No they were racing each other. The points for Toro Rosso are just as valuable for us and I doubt Kvyat would have listened too much anyway.”

“I thought it was good racing between the two guys. They are fighting for points for their battle in the Constructors’ championship. Danny drove firmly but fairly so I didn’t have any issue with it.”

Kvyat was eventually forced to let Verstappen through but that only came after the former exceeded track limits in overtaking Sergio Perez.

The Russian thus had to give the place back to the Force India driver but he ended up losing another position to the Red Bull man, who had sneaked past Perez in the mean time.

Verstappen eventually crossed the line in sixth, with Kvyat making it to the points for the first since Silverstone in ninth.

Quotes of the week - 2016 Singapore Grand Prix

2016 Singapore Grand Prix - Driver ratings

REPORT: Rosberg takes title lead after Singapore thriller 

Breakfast with ... Bernd Maylander

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Julien Billiotte

Recent Posts

Andretti to serve as a director on GM-Cadillac F1 team’s board

Motorsport legend Mario Andretti, the patriarch of the Andretti racing dynasty, will be back in…

8 hours ago

Formula 1 agrees deal for General Motors to join the grid in 2026!

In a dramatic Monday revelation, Formula 1 has announced a deal in principle with General…

8 hours ago

Piastri says tyre graining led to ‘pretty poor’ Las Vegas GP

Oscar Piastri's Las Vegas Grand Prix was a race to forget for the McLaren driver…

11 hours ago

Bottas set for homecoming as Mercedes reserve in 2025

F1 veteran Valtteri Bottas, who heads into his final races with Sauber, looks set to…

12 hours ago

Vettel makes it a hat-trick of F1 titles in Brazil

Twelve years ago today in Brazil, Sebastian Vettel secured his third consecutive Formula 1 World…

13 hours ago

Verstappen’s bold claim: ‘I would have won the title with McLaren’

Newly crowned F1 world champion Max Verstappen believes he would have won the 2024 title…

14 hours ago