Schumacher/Raikkonen moment inspired Verstappen

The Toro Rosso driver delivered a stellar performance during a less than thrilling race at Interlagos, pulling off a particularly brilliant move past Sergio Perez at the Senna Esses early on.

Speaking about the wheel-to-wheel action afterwards, Verstappen said he was well aware of how to play that corner to seize advantage in to Turn 2, after seeing Raikkonen go around Schumacher there in 2012.

"I saw it a few years ago between Raikkonen and Schumacher," said Verstappen. "I thought that looked nice - and then I had the opportunity to do it."

Total trust

Verstappen said one of the keys to being able to race wheel-to-wheel like that was that he could fully trust Sergio Perez not to take him out.

"You can do your best, but if the other one doesn't care and smashes you off track then it is over," he said. "Luckily Checo is very fair, so we had a great fight.

"There was a bit of clear air, and I braked around the outside, trying not to lock up. He was trying to push me wide, and we had a little touch in to Turn 2. But that was good for me as it meant I could get the job done."

Power factor

Despite his best efforts, Verstappen could only finish 10th – having admitted that the lack of power from Renault held him back.

"I think we can be very pleased with 10th," he said. "It was the maximum we could do today, especially with the long straights.

"It was hard to keep Lotus and Force India behind – but I enjoyed my fights and enjoyed my overtakings. Definitely a very positive race."