Max Verstappen reveals 'airplane shunt' concern after seeing 'red rocket in his mirrors'

Max Verstappen said he feared the possibility of "an airplane shunt" after witnessing Charles Leclerc's "red rocket" approaching on the opening lap of the Belgian Grand Prix.

From second on the grid at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, Red Bull driver Verstappen passed polesitter Kimi Antonelli in his Mercedes at the bottom of Eau Rouge.

Along the Kemmel Straight, however, Verstappen had no answer to Antonelli's riposte, whilst he also ceded second place into the Les Combes chicane to the fast-charging Ferrari of Leclerc.

Explaining why he was swallowed up so easily by both drivers after superbly taking the lead, Verstappen said: "Clearly too much deployment from Turn One to Turn Two [out of the La Source hairpin into Eau Rouge].

"Then I went through Eau Rouge, I looked at my battery status, and I was like, 'Well, that's going to be a difficult run to Les Combes'.

"I expected Kimi to come by, and then I looked in my mirror, and I just saw a red rocket coming. I was like, 'Oh, I'll just hold my line because if I move here, we're going to have an airplane shunt'. It was pretty incredible the differences."

Verstappen went on to finish third at the chequered flag behind Antonelli and Leclerc for his fourth podium of the season, and his third in the last four grands prix.

Following his criticism of the new-look F1 and his car earlier in the season, Verstappen and Red Bull are slowly getting to grips, albeit still falling short of being in a position to challenge for a race victory.

Regardless, Verstappen enjoyed what was a "quite straightforward weekend", with the only 'blemish' being unluckily called in for his only pit stop shortly before there was a VSC. 

He added: "The car was straight away in a decent window, so I think that just helps a lot. To be honest, we got a little bit unlucky with the VSC, and I could have potentially fought with Charles.

"But the second stint was just a little bit worse than I hoped for. I guess the balance was not where I wanted it to be for a long time during that stint, so I lost too much time in the first half of it. But for us to be on the podium here has been a good result."