Sky Sports F1 pundit 'infuriated' with Max Verstappen after Brazilian GP win

Max Verstappen went from 17th to first on action-packed afternoon in Interlagos with one of the best wins of his career yet not everyone was satisfied by the Red Bull star's performance

Max Verstappen may have produced one of the greatest races of his decorated career at Interlagos on Sunday afternoon but Sky Sports pundit Karun Chandhok has said he was left “infuriated” by the world champion’s drive.

Red Bull star Verstappen started 17th on the grid during a wet and action-packed day in Brazil but he destroyed the competition to strengthen his grip on the title

And with nearest challenger Lando Norris dropping from pole down to sixth place, Verstappen now has a 62-point lead in the standings with three races to go.

Yet Chandhok was irked by the statement win because it made the Dutchman’s recent transgressions, which have bordered on dangerous, seem so unnecessary.

“Well, he’s making a statement, isn’t he? Another fastest lap and his lead is now over 17 seconds which is the same number as the position he started in,” Chandhok said.

“That’s a real statement drive. He doesn’t need to win, you get the same points if you finish one second ahead of 18 as he is now but this is a statement that he’s trying to make.

“This in some ways is the infuriating thing about those moments of road rage that we have seen in places like Mexico. He’s got more god-given talent to drive a race car in his little finger than most other drivers that have ever been in Formula 1.

“That’s why it drives you mad when you see those moves from Max which are on the edge of fairness and you just think, you don’t need to do that, you are an utterly brilliant racing driver and that’s the one we want to see more often and it’s on full display to the world today.”

Verstappen felt he had nothing to lose starting from almost the back of the grid and cut through the pack with a series of daring overtakes. He said: "I just knew that I had to go for it. I hope the crowd enjoyed it."

His Red Bull chief Christian Horner described his performance as a "masterclass" and said it was "one of the very best drives" of his career.

He beamed: "I thought if we could get somewhere near the podium that it would be an amazing result. For him to have gone out there and won that race, it was absolutely outstanding."

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