Max Verstappen: “You need this kind of race sometimes”

Manhandled by the competition for several Grands Prix, Max Verstappen won a race that was poorly started in Montreal. After losing time due to an engine problem on Friday, he almost created a surprise by setting the same time as pole sitter George Russell on Saturday, which gave him second place on the starting grid.

Remaining second at the start of the race, on a wet track, Verstappen began to threaten the Mercedes driver but he ultimately made a small error at the first chicane, then was overtaken by Lando Norris. Both men took the lead from Russell but on a drying track, Verstappen was unable to keep up with Norris, who built a seven-second lead in four short laps.

The first intervention of the safety car completely redistributed the cards: Norris waited a lap to change tires and only returned to the track in third position, giving Verstappen a first place that he would never relinquish , despite a second stop to switch to slicks and a new appearance of the Safety Car at the end of the event.

“It was a pretty crazy ride.”commented Verstappen in parc ferme. “A lot of things happened and we had to make the right choices. I think the team was really good, we stayed calm. I think we made the stops at the right time. Obviously, the Safety Car helped us helped a lot but we also managed the gaps well I liked it, it was a lot of fun! You need this kind of race sometimes.”

While an interruption in the race had favored Norris’ victory in Miami, the scenario was reversed this time, an opportunity that the winner did not hesitate to seize. “Sometimes it works in your favor and sometimes it works against you.”summed up Verstappen at a press conference. “This time, yeah, it worked for us. I think it’s 1-1 this year. But that’s racing, that’s part of it.”

This victory, facilitated by a twist of fate, illustrates the current situation for Verstappen and Red Bull, less dominant than a year ago, which has already resulted in three victories for the competition this season. Between the smaller gaps and weekends less controlled by Red Bull, Verstappen sees the need to correct certain weaknesses.

“The last races were quite difficult, but not only difficult, we also had too many problems throughout the weekends. We need a cleaner weekend. And even in the race now, we have a lot of “I’m having a hard time with the kerbs and bumps. We really have an area that we need to work on on the car, we can improve it quite a bit.”

For some reason it’s not as smooth as last year, when everything seemed to be going well for us at most tracks, with no concerns about reliability.

Verstappen believes Red Bull must now “to remain vigilant” facing competition ready to seize every opportunity… even if it was ultimately she who made his task easier on Sunday. “We no longer have the right to make mistakes, or to make small mistakes”underlined the championship leader. “Every little detail counts now.”

“We’re all very focused, we’re still doing a lot of things well, but for one reason or another, it’s not as smooth as last year, when everything seemed to be going well for us on the most circuits, without concern for reliability“added Verstappen. “I don’t know why but everything is a little harder this year.”

“Some things are also harder to explain. Sometimes you almost feel like you’re in a spiral and it takes time to get out of it, but we’re good at everything. Obviously, there are always things that we want to do better but we are going to analyze everything this week, and try to progress.”

Winning such an unpredictable race, particularly due to the precarious conditions at the end of the first stint, is in any case particularly satisfying for Verstappen: “It’s very rewarding. It’s never an easy race, you can easily make mistakes, especially on intermediates when they have almost become slicks. It was very easy to go off the track because it was drying in most places, but in some corners it was still a little too wet to go on the slicks. It made it very, very difficult. It’s really fun to ride in these kinds of races from time to time. . You don’t want that all the time because it’s too stressful, but I had a lot of fun on the track.”

“We are very focused but we try to stay as calm as possible”clarified Verstappen. “And also, we communicate with the wall and they with you, to know the conditions. I think the team made the right choices, and that is also very important.”

VIDEO – The summary of the Canadian GP