Verstappen explains why he 'appreciated' battle with Schumacher

Max Verstappen has revealed how much he enjoyed his battle with Mick Schumacher during the British Grand Prix, despite finding himself out of position due to damage on his car.

Verstappen had made a strong start to the race, and overtook Carlos Sainz for the lead early on in proceedings.

However, soon afterwards he looked to be in trouble after slowing down, and at the time suspected he had suffered a puncture. The problem was later confirmed to be with the floor of the Red Bull, due to a piece of debris from one of the AlphaTauris becoming lodged under the RB18.

This caused Verstappen to slip backwards, but he still managed to put up a fight with a damaged car while battling in the midfield.

Towards the end of the Grand Prix, Schumacher fought hard with the Dutchman in the battle for P7, though it was Verstappen who managed to hold onto the position.

Verstappen appreciated Schumacher battle

Despite the issues with his car putting him further back in the pecking order than usual, Verstappen still enjoyed the scrap with Schumacher.

"My car was limping a bit," Verstappen told media, including RacingNews365.com, after the race.

"But I knew that also Mick was really trying to go for seventh, and it was fun. Of course, I was not enjoying where I was, but you can also appreciate the fight you're having with someone else.

"I think it was actually quite a good battle."

What Verstappen said to Schumacher afterwards

Verstappen and Schumacher – who scored his first points in F1 by finishing in eighth – spoke to one another after the race.

"I said to him, 'I knew you were fighting for the points'. He said, 'Yeah, I know, but I really wanted seventh'. I said, 'I know you did, I saw that!'" Verstappen laughed.

"It was a good battle."

At certain points during the fight, things got very close, especially as the two drivers came through the final corner.

Verstappen says that he knew that Schumacher would have to back out to prevent them both from suffering an incident.

"I was like, 'Well, he has to now back off, otherwise we're both out,'" the World Champion explained.

"Luckily, he's smart enough to [do that]."