Verstappen: My race was 'basically finished' after Massa clash

Max Verstappen was left to consider what could have been in Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix after a clash with Williams’ Felipe Massa left the Red Bull Formula 1 driver to fight from the back of the field after sustaining damage.

Verstappen and Massa touched at Turn 1 when jostling for position, the Dutchman having made a lightning start to run eighth early on.

The contact left Verstappen with a front-right puncture, forcing him to take an unscheduled visit to the pits and revert to a two-stop strategy.

Verstappen was able to scythe through the field and eventually pick up a point for P10, and while he was frustrated not to finish higher up, he remained happy with his performance.

“My race was basically finished after three laps. We were always playing catch-up,” Verstappen said.

“We started on the softs and then I had a puncture on that tyre, so I had to do a two-stop. Was a bit of a shame. So yeah, what can you do?

“I think I still did quite a decent race, I was pretty happy with that.

“Daniel [Ricciardo] finished fourth, so I think the car was working really well. I was really happy even though I was playing catch-up.

“Hopefully in Singapore we can really fight for a proper podium.”