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Carlos Sainz was immensely frustrated with the way Max Verstappen was driving during the Miami Grand Prix.
Verstappen secured a P5 finish after a thrilling Miami Grand Prix. In fact, the Dutch ace even led the race at one point and looked set to earn a podium finish.
Despite Verstappen spinning out at the start of the race, he managed to get his composure and secure his best finish this season so far.
A five-second penalty for Max Verstappen, but he keeps P5!
The right decision?
However, Verstappen’s comeback wouldn’t have been possible without his signature aggressive style. But this led to Verstappen being criticised by Lando Norris for his aggressive driving.
And now, Carlos Sainz has joined in on the criticism levelled at Max Verstappen, calling him out for being far too aggressive.
READ MORE: Red Bull have finally fixed the problem Max Verstappen noticed on the first lap of winter testing
Carlos Sainz slams ‘aggressive’ Max Verstappen for almost causing midfield collision
During the race, Carlos Sainz almost collided with Max Verstappen during a midfield battle. On the team radio, he said, “He pushed me off. He thinks he can do whatever he wants because he’s racing in the midfield!”
Speaking to AS after the race, Sainz criticised Verstappen for his aggressive driving in the midfield, which he felt was unwarranted.
He added that Verstappen approached the midfield battle as if it were a duel for the lead of the race, and it almost caused a collision had he not moved out of the way.
“I had to get a good start and fight for it. Then, once I got up to ninth, I was able to find the pace the car had this weekend, which is the best of the midfield behind Alpine.
“Max knows, and I’ve done it in the past, too, that we’re not in his race, and you’re going to move aside and let him pass. Because if I hadn’t moved aside, we would have collided.
“If it had been for first position, we wouldn’t have come out of that corner in one piece. What he did was too aggressive, but he did it knowing I was going to move aside because it’s not our fight.”
READ MORE: Max Verstappen sees ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ after impressive Miami Grand Prix qualifying
Some brilliant performances in South Beach! But who is your Driver of the Day for the Miami Grand Prix?
Carlos Sainz praises Williams’ improvement after Miami Grand Prix
Sainz also spoke about the improvement Williams showed at the Miami Grand Prix, with both him and Alex Albon earning points on the day.
“One point per race… seeing how far behind we were in Bahrain, I would have accepted that, but five months ago, we were expecting a very strong start to the season with these regulations, and I see that we are still far from our expectations and far from the potential we have as a team.
“Let this serve as an example that things work out when you do your job well. Now we have to make sure we continue in this direction and deliver on the promises we made last year.”
Given Sainz’s outburst at Williams earlier in the weekend, it’s surprising to see them turn things around so well so quickly.
The hope for Williams is that they can continue building on the momentum they’ve built up over this weekend.
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