Max Verstappen admits trying to push Lewis Hamilton into a problem was his only chance of winning in Monaco.
The Dutchman rarely veered more than a second behind the Mercedes for much of Sunday’s race, having emerged of his pit-stop ahead of Valtteri Bottas.
However, the difficulty of passing on the narrow streets of Monte Carlo was clearly evident as Hamilton held the faster Red Bull at bay.
“I was pushing Lewis because initially, he was driving so slow,” Verstappen explained post-race.
“Then I heard the penalty so I just kept pushing him, he had to push and he destroyed his tyres. So that was my only way of trying to get by.”
The penalty Max referred to was five seconds added to his race time for an unsafe release from his pit box as he and Bottas clashed in the pit-lane.
“I think as a team we did everything right, it was just unfortunate,” Max admitted.
“I didn’t know there was anyone next to me because they released me and it all gets a bit tight, we were ahead but of course it was a shame that we touched. But I couldn’t see him.”
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With Sebastian Vettel and Bottas close behind, Verstappen did have one half-hearted attempt at passing Hamilton with a few laps to go.
“I couldn’t really plan it because I was always so close at the hairpin but all the time out of Portier I just lost the momentum,” he said.
“At one point I just thought let’s have a go and see what happens. We had this little touch but under braking, you normally don’t look in your mirrors already and they are also difficult to see though, there was no-one to blame. I don’t think there was any damage.”
Having to settle for fourth, the 21-year-old wasn’t too disheartened.
“It was fun! I was trying to get ahead of Lewis because I knew that if I would get ahead I could drive off because we were much faster and his tyres were destroyed, so he had no grip,” he noted.
“I was trying everything I could. Around here, being in the dirty air for so long, within half a second, it’s really hard because in the high-speed corners you’re always sliding a lot and trying to keep it between the walls.
“But I enjoyed it. Of course, it’s a shame to finish fourth, but myself I had a fun race.”
