Max Verstappen has praised Mick Schumacher for being “smart enough” to avoid a costly Silverstone collision between the pair.

It has rarely happened but Verstappen and Schumacher found themselves competing for position in the British Grand Prix, eventually crossing the line seventh and eighth respectively separated by just 0.218sec.

Rather like a previous occurrence in Hungary last year, it was because Verstappen’s Red Bull car was carrying damage, this time as a result of running over a piece of debris which dropped him from the lead on lap 12 of 52.

As they battled hard on the closing lap, Schumacher was chasing his first F1 points at the 32nd attempt – and some watching his quest unfold must have feared a repeat of May’s Miami GP in which he collided with Sebastian Vettel in the closing stages just when a maiden top-10 finish had been in reach.