Verstappen adamant that closing door on Hamilton was fair

Verstappen held off Hamilton in the closing stages of the race, despite the Mercedes holding a significant straightline-speed advantage.

Hamilton lunged into the chicane with two laps to go, but Verstappen covered the inside line on the approach to the corner – and Hamilton sailed down the escape road.

“I’m not going to open the door and say ‘here you go’,” Verstappen told Sky Sports F1. “Of course, I saw him moving and as soon as I saw that I closed the door, and I think it was far enough to see that I was gonna close the door.”

Verstappen revealed that he wasn’t using his battery power to defend from Hamilton in the DRS zone on the main straight, but instead using it on the back straight between Spoon Curve and 130R.

“We are struggling a bit on the straights, I think we’re easily losing three tenths,” he said. “I knew I always needed good exits out of Turn 14 and the last chicane, and luckily I managed to do that.

“Lewis was 1.5s faster at one point, and as soon as he arrived behind me he got stuck. And I never had that kind of pace compared to Nico, so I don’t think I could do anything [about beating him].”

Red Bull is now 50 points clear of Ferrari for second place in the Constructors’ Championship, and Verstappen has also drawn level with Vettel in the Drivers’ points.

“Of course you can always improve, that’s what I’m aiming [for],” Verstappen added. “At the moment I’m feeling very happy – of course, we need to stay in front of Ferrari – that’s the most important thing.

“We were helped a little bit with their penalties this weekend, because they were very strong in qualifying. But we took it, and we maximised it in the race. They had a try, but they couldn’t make it and we’re happy for that.”