Kvyat enjoyed a return to form in Singapore last weekend and found himself having to hold off Verstappen – the man who replaced him at Red Bull – at various stages of the race.

But rather than make it easier for his Dutch rival, Kvyat held Verstappen at bay for several laps with some robust moves.

Despite Kvyat's defence holding up the progress of his sister team, Red Bull boss Christian Horner said there was no consideration given to telling Toro Rosso to let Verstappen through – as he said Kvyat was well justified to hold his rival at bay.

“They were racing each other,” said Horner.

“Points for Toro Rosso are just as valuable as for us. I doubt Kvyat would have listened too much anyway.”

Too aggressive

Verstappen himself was not too bothered afterwards about the way that Kvyat had driven, and said that at no point did he consider asking for team orders.

“No. I should get past by myself,” he said. “He was fighting for his position. You should fight the same [way] against everyone and I think he was doing that. It’s fair.”

However, he suggested that perhaps Kvyat's aggression had gone too far.

“It was getting quite intense at one point, going a bit off the track,” he said. “We were just losing a lot of time, and of course after such a bad start you are a bit disappointed. He was a bit aggressive.

“On the one hand I understand it, on the other hand you have to let each other live a bit. If you look at the fight with [Fernando] Alonso and with [Sergio] Perez, then it’s a very different fight.”