Carlos Sainz critical of Max Verstappen’s “borderline” midfield racing in F1 Miami

Carlos Sainz believes Max Verstappen’s overtake on him on the first lap of the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix was “borderline”, following a radio outburst during the race.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was recovering from a spin at Turn 2 on the opening lap when he dived up the inside of Carlos Sainz into Turn 17.

The aggressive move irked the Williams driver, who took to his team radio to declare: “He pushed me off. He thinks he can whatever he wants just because he’s racing the midfield.”

Verstappen went on to finish the race in fifth, while Sainz led home team-mate Alex Albon for a Williams double points finish.

“I don’t know why they woke up wanting to crash…”

Sainz continued his criticism of Verstappen and other drivers’ aggressive racing on Sunday in Miami when he spoke to the media after the grand prix.

“Verstappen did a bit of a crazy move into 17, nearly took me off,” he said.

“From there, Alex and another Haas [came by]. So, my good start was to the bin in one lap.

“But then I kept it calm. People were racing really hard today; I don’t know why they woke up wanting to crash many people out there.”

On Verstappen, he felt the Red Bull driver’s overtake on him was “borderline”, and that the Dutchman was making moves based on the fact that midfield drivers wouldn’t put up a fight.

“[He was] not disrespecting, but what he did into 17 was almost like a launch, knowing that we’re in the midfield, we’re not going to fight him and we’re going to have to let him by at some point,” he explained.

“But, what he did there was borderline.

“Probably it was a bit of frustration from the spin and trying to get back to the front as much as possible.

“But 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 track, and I lost three positions. So, it was a bit frustrating.”

Verstappen faced a number of stewards’ investigations during the grand prix, and was handed a five-second penalty post-race for crossing the white line at pit-exit.

That did not, however, affect his end result of fifth.