Max Verstappen revealed why he didn't attack Kimi Antonelli at the end of the Formula 1 Brazilian Grand Prix

Ashley Davis10/11/2025

0 122 2 minutes read

Article by Sebastian Vasile – Published Monday, November 10, 2025, 12:07 / Updated Monday, November 10, 2025 12:07

Right at the end of the race in Brazil, the Red Bull driver overtook Andrea Kimi Antonelli in the fight for second place. The Dutchman spent several laps stuck to the Mercedes driver but was unable to attack him despite having DRS on the two longer straights.

After the finish, the world champion explained that he was unable to attack his opponent because his aggressive driving style led to the overheating of the soft tyres, which he ran on at the end of the race.

Verstappen revealed why he didn't attack Antonelli at the end of the race in Brazil

However, Verstappen said he was more than happy with his performance, which came after elimination from the first phase of Saturday's qualifiers.

“Yes, it was much better than in qualifying, that's for sure. It was simply a very strong race. I think we had a much better pace. It was a bit cooler, which probably helped us. The car reacted a lot better. Even after the rubber wedge at the start and coming back to the tail, I was able to push my way forward on the medium tires. I had the right strategy at the end.

Even the soft tires seemed fine. It's just that when I got close to George and overtook him, I started to feel the wear and tear on them. Then when I caught up to Kimi, the tires started to overheat and I lost a lot of grip. Soft tires are a little more complicated than medium tires in this regard.

But overall a very strong race. To reach the podium after leaving the pits, only 10-11 seconds behind the winner, for us is a very good result. We certainly didn't expect this when we woke up in the morning,” explained Verstappen, according to sportal.bg.