Verstappen knocked sideways by wild Silverstone exit

Max Verstappen says he is uncertain as to why he suffered a high-speed spin into retirement during the British Grand Prix, suggesting a continuation of the troubles that plagued him in qualifying played their part.

Having been a consistent top ten threat throughout free practice, Verstappen complained of instability from his Toro Rosso as he laboured to an unspectacular 13th place starting position.

Going on to slip back early on after a poor start, Verstappen's race then ended abruptly when he spun wildly out of turn two at the safety car restart. Insisting the tyres were up to temperature despite being the only driver to start on hard rubber, the young Dutchman was confused by his dramatic exit.

"It was a very short race. A very bad start, we had a lot of wheelspin. I think I was the only one on the hard tyre and in front of me a lot of crashes happened so I was lucky to escape from that.

"Then after the safety car restart, I don't know what happened in turn two. I was flat out on full throttle and suddenly I just lost the rear. I touched the guardrail very softly so there was a bit of damage, then I was in reverse but it wasn't reversing.

"It was very strange. The tyres weren't cold, and I was flat out in turn two and it just went left-right! Very quickly, and I couldn't control it. A bit the same as the problems [in qualifying], I was full brakes on and tried to avoid a crash

Part of a double DNF for the Toro Rosso team after Carlos Sainz retired from ninth position, Verstappen is confident of better in Hungary.

"With Carlos, it is a big shame for the team. We will analyse everything and come back stronger in Budapest."