Verstappen blinded by oil from Gasly’s Honda F1 engine

Max Verstappen compared the last laps of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to “driving through fog” after being blinded by oil from Pierre Gasly’s Honda Formula 1 engine.

Verstappen was running behind his 2019 Red Bull teammate’s Toro Rosso when it began to smoke in the closing stages of Sunday’s race, ultimately resulting in Gasly’s retirement.

Oil from Gasly’s Honda engine - the manufacturer Red Bull will switch to after ending its Renault supply - was spewed directly into Verstappen’s cockpit, with the Dutchman unable to improve his visibility having already used all of his visor tear-offs in the race.

“It was a bit of oil but I don’t know exactly what happened there,” Verstappen told Sky Sports.

“I already went through all my tear-offs but there was so much oil on my visor it was like driving through fog. It was horrible.

“I was [trying to wipe it] but it made it even worse, so I just stayed off it.

“I asked the team ‘where’s Daniel [Ricciardo] because I can’t see him in the mirrors, nothing.”

Despite the issue, and having dropped away from leaders Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel, Verstappen was still able to finish third and take his fifth straight podium.

The Red Bull driver also had to recover from a poor start from sixth place on the grid which saw him lose ground on the opening lap. Verstappen revealed his Renault engine went into a safety mode, meaning he was down on power.

“The launch was good but then the engine went into like a safety programme and I had it again on the re-start afterwards,” he explained.

“It was not easy but we managed to go back into a good position, putting pressure on the guys ahead.

“I think I stopped quite early but I had to, because I was on the Hypersofts. Then we managed to keep the Supersoft alive and I had good pace.”