Max Verstappen said he was amazed he reached the finish of the British Grand Prix in the wake of being hit by Ferrari rival Sebastian Vettel.
Verstappen battled for the final spot on the podium with Charles Leclerc through the early stages of the race but the timing of the Safety Car period dropped Verstappen to fifth, and Leclerc to sixth.
Having fended off an attack from Leclerc, Verstappen overhauled Red Bull team-mate Pierre Gasly before sizing up Vettel, passing his opponent through Stowe corner.
But Vettel tried to retaliate in the next moments, only to make a misjudgement and hit the rear of the Verstappen’s car.
Verstappen’s RB15 was sent flying over the sausage kerb on the inside of the apex and he skated through the gravel, but recovered to finish fifth.
“I guess he misjudged his braking in there, so he ran into the back [of me] but I already spoke to him and he already apologised to me immediately out of the car,” said Verstappen.
“That said, it’s disappointing but you can’t change it now.
“The power steering more or less failed so it was quite a hard work out for me.
“The seat popped out so it was moving around a lot and the floor was quite badly damaged.
“The diffuser was broken on the side, the floor was broken. Underneath I could see parts falling off so it was not great.
“The car was not what it should have been but of course still happy to be fifth.”
Verstappen nonetheless maintained third place in the championship.
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