Max Verstappen, Red Bull, Silverstone, 2025

Max Verstappen said his spin during a Safety Car restart in the British Grand Prix wasn’t related to his near-miss with Oscar Piastri moments earlier.

The Red Bull driver briefly overtook Piastri, who was leading the race, when the McLaren slowed suddenly at the end of a Safety Car period. Moments later as the field accelerated away Verstappen spun at the exit of Stowe corner, dropping from second place to 10th.

Verstappen criticised his rival’s driving, which led to Piastri being penalised. However when asked if the two incidents were connected, Verstappen said: “I don’t think so.”

“I just tried to go on throttle, but the car had been really difficult already up until that point,” he explained. “We were just trying to find a nice rhythm and it just caught me out on cold tyres.”

The Red Bull driver complained repeatedly about his car’s handling in the rain-hit race, calling it “undriveable”. He ran a lower downforce rear wing in qualifying, hoping the forecast rain would not arrive. However it did and Verstappen struggled as a result.

“I didn’t know what to expect but it was just very difficult from lap one onwards,” he said. “A very difficult balance in the car between high-speed and low-speed [corners]. I couldn’t really find a good balance.

“Also, in the end, I think we were degrading the tyres too much, especially compared to McLaren. Again, they were on a different level.”

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He was passed by both McLarens, regained a place from Lando Norris through the pit stops, but dropped to the bottom of the points places when he spun at the final restart.

“My moment made everything a bit more difficult,” he said. “But even when I was behind [in] P10 I also didn’t really have the pace to move forward, which was a bit concerning.”

However he was pleased with his team’s strategy, which helped him to salvage a top five finish. “We stayed calm and stayed out as long as we could with the inters. That was again the right call, so we ended up fifth, which I think in hindsight is probably the best we could have done after all the things that happened during the race.”

Verstappen based his set-up decision for the race on the expectation the race would be dry. But the track was damp at the star and most drivers, included Verstappen, began the race on intermediate tyres. Further rain during the race forced them back in for more wet weather rubber, though the track eventually dried enough for slick tyres over the final 15 laps.

“The weather forecast overnight just changed a lot,” Verstappen reflected. “Up until yesterday the weather was getting better [in the forecast]. It was actually just [going to rain] a bit in the morning and then it would be fine. And then last night suddenly it just shifted into more severe rain. That can happen.”

Although Verstappen has produced several memorable performances in wet weather conditions, he said it wasn’t possible to do the same today. “Not with that wing,” he said. “It’s unfortunately how it goes.”

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