Red Bull star Max Verstappen was left puzzled after a strange incident involving Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

The incident in question occurred at the end of the first free practice session (FP1) in Sao Paulo, with both drivers heading to the starting grid spots after the chequered flag to perform practice starts.

F1 stars only get a few opportunities to do this over the course of a weekend ahead of the actual race start on Sunday, and so it is a key part of the session, but both Verstappen and Stroll's preparations were interrupted.

Verstappen got to the back straight first, and had slowed down well ahead of the grid slot he was aiming for. However, Stroll, arriving behind him, approached much faster, overtaking the Red Bull and also trying to get into a slot on the right-hand side.

Verstappen then tried to go for the same, next available slot on the right as he had originally intended, and the pair came within inches of touching each other's cars, with Stroll forced to slam the brakes on and swerve to avoid contact.

Max Verstappen unhappy after Lance Stroll incident

Stroll then proceeded to go and park up on the left-hand side of the grid to do his practice start, but Verstappen was not happy.

After the close call, the Red Bull star was frustrated over the radio but also confused at Stroll's actions: "What is that Aston doing? He's just overtaking!"

"Yeah, saw that Max. Not sure what he's up to," Verstappen's engineer replied.

We are yet to hear any more from either driver at this time, with both now preparing for FP2 later this afternoon.

Verstappen ended FP1 in third position as Lando Norris topped the timesheets, with Stroll finishing down in P19 in his Aston Martin.