Max Verstappen has confirmed that he did not back off in the wake of Valtteri Bottas’ crash during qualifying for Formula 1’s Mexican Grand Prix.
Verstappen had already claimed provisional pole position when Bottas suffered a 17G impact through the final corner.
A single yellow flag was shown and Verstappen, who was behind Bottas on track, set the overall best time through the final sector, sealing his second career pole position.
There has been no mention from the stewards regarding any potential investigation.
When asked about the situation, Verstappen confirmed that he was “aware Valtteri crashed" and when pushed on if he backed off replied “it didn't really look like it did it? No."
Verstappen suggested that stewards should “delete me lap” if they wish to investigate the matter, and when it was put to the Dutchman that it was a safety issue he said: “I think we know what we are doing.
“Otherwise we wouldn’t be driving an F1 car.
“It’s qualifying, you go for it, but like I said before if they want to delete the lap then delete the lap.”
Bottas was taken to the medical centre for a check-up, where he was given the all-clear.
