Verstappen on Leclerc incident: If this isn't allowed, what's the point in Formula 1?

Max Verstappen

Verstappen on Leclerc incident: If this isn't allowed, what's the point in Formula 1?

This was racing!

Paul Macdonald

Sunday 30 June 2019 16:55 Updated: 17:00

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Max Verstappen was bullish in the defence of his passing move on Charles Leclerc in the closing stages of a thrilling Austrian Grand Prix, where the Dutchman cut through the field to take victory.

Leclerc was vehemently defending the lead that he had held for the entirety of the race after Verstappen recovered from an awful start to produce a stunning drive.

After passing Valtteri Bottas he set his sights on closing in on Leclerc and with a few laps remaining he finally got through, though sent Leclerc off the track in the process, much to the anger of the Ferrari man.

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But, speaking to Martin Brundle post-race, Verstappen made it clear that he felt he was well within his rights to do what he did.

He said: "Wow, after that start I thought the race was over, but we just kept pushing hard.

"I got a bad flat spot on my first tyre, and then after the pit stop we were flying. You could see on the straight we had good pace.

"Extremely happy for the whole team and also for Honda. We just started working together this year, but to win here is incredible. It's hard racing, or else we stay home.

"If those things aren't allowed in racing, what's the point of being in Formula 1?"

The incident was still being assessed by the stewards at the time of writing.