Tsunoda wanted to keep Hamilton behind him: 'Want Verstappen to win title'

Yuki Tsunoda managed to hold off seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton for eight laps to help Max Verstappen with his lead. The AlphaTauri driver says he would have liked to keep Hamilton behind for much longer.

Tsunoda started the Turkish Grand Prix from P9, Lewis Hamilton was behind him on P11 after changing his combustion engine. It didn't take long for the Brit to get behind Tsunoda's car, but the AlphaTauri driver didn't make it easy for him.

Hamilton eventually got past him on the outside of turn three. A few laps later Tsunoda spun in the difficult conditions. "I just used the tyres too much at the beginning in the duel with Hamilton", Tsunoda is quoted by Motorsport-Total.com. "It was really difficult to keep the pace. You can basically forget about the mirror. I couldn't see anything at all because it was full of dirt."

Tsunoda eventually finished fourteenth. "I just couldn't see anything. I thought I had a car behind me, so I wanted to turn. That ruined my race. We could have scored points today, but in this way it's a shame."

"It's the last year for Honda and I want Max [Verstappen] to win the title, for Honda and also for Red Bull", the 21-year-old driver explains. "I tried to keep Lewis behind me as long as possible." Whether he enjoyed the duel with Hamilton? "I don't care. I actually wanted to keep him behind me for twenty laps. Eight laps is not enough."