Max Verstappen satisfied with P2 in light of the circumstances: “It was a tricky day”

Max Verstappen satisfied with P2 in light of the circumstances: “It was a tricky day”

Max Verstappen

After finishing P1 despite early pressure yesterday in the sprint race, Max Verstappen started the race on top, and built a fairly healthy gap to Charles Leclerc. But the Red Bull suffered from higher tire degradation than the Ferrari, and so, later on, Leclerc was able to overtake Verstappen fairly easily.

Charles Leclerc overtook Verstappen twice more during the race, all done fairly comfortably, and as a result, stepped on the top step of the podium for the first time since Australia, and it was also his first podium since Miami. While Ferrari looked slightly second best to Verstappen all weekend, they were able to turn it up on Sunday to get a crucial result for Leclerc’s title battle.

https://youtu.be/L2Z1PjMchRM

However, not everything went smoothly for Ferrari as Carlos Sainz once again retired due to engine problems, with his car having caught fire as well, at a time when Ferrari looked poised for the 1-2 finish. Verstappen’s teammate, Sergio Perez, also retired fairly early on in the race due to damage from first-lap contact with George Russell.

FS Video

Also Read: “I was scared. Really scared,” Tifosi breathe a huge sigh of relief as Charles Leclerc claims Austrian GP win

Max Verstappen happy with the support for him in Austria

Max Verstappen's support
The ‘Oranje’ army behind Max Verstappen in Austria.

In his post-race interview, Max Verstappen expressed ‘satisfaction’ at his P2 result today. He thought that because of the high degradation, he was never able to bring the fight to Leclerc: “It was a tricky day. It seemed that we were struggling with the tires and we did so on every compound. We had too much degradation to attack Charles, but second place is a good result on a tricky day like today.”

Before the start of the race, the Dutch fans let through a lot of orange smoke into the air, which also made its way onto the track. It was in support of Max Verstappen, and he said that the smoke did not bother him: “No it was good, a nice colour to drive through.”

He expressed his gratefulness and pleasure at the support for him. Austria is considered one of Red Bull’s home tracks, and Verstappen has always been historically strong in the Austrian Grand Prix, holding the record along with Jo Siffert and Alain Prost. He said: “It’s great to see so many fans here in Austria and second is still a good result.”

Also Read: “You made the difference” Mattia Binotto hails champion mentality of Charles Leclerc after CLUTCH Austrian GP win

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