Max Verstappen was smiling after the Grand Prix in Miami… even if, once in a while, he lost to someone stronger than him!
“We saw it coming for a long time, I’m happy to have been beaten by Lando” confided the Red Bull driver yesterday, not at all contrite by the controversy surrounding the safety car.
For Max Verstappen, it is clear: Lando Norris won consistently.
“He really deserved it. He was just faster – by a lot at the end. So, yeah, it’s great. You know, winning your first race is always very emotional. And, yes, it takes you back to all the days you worked for Formula 1, where you dreamed of being on the podium, where you stood on the top step. »
“So I’m not very happy with my day, but you can appreciate and respect what Lando did, and I’m very happy for him. »
And so ? Without a safety car, could Max Verstappen have won the race? The Red Bull driver responds… with second degree.
“I mean, it’s always yes, yes, yes, right? If my mother had balls, she would be my father. I mean, that’s how racing is. Sometimes it goes your way, sometimes it doesn’t.”
Certainly, McLaren F1 received a big package of developments this weekend, but to think that Lando Norris would have the pace to beat the Red Bulls… Was Max Verstappen surprised?
“I didn’t really see it at first because I was more focused on Oscar and the Ferraris. But then I heard Lando’s beat in worn mids. I thought that was really crazy. I mean I would never have been able to do it. »
“So I knew that even if there hadn’t been a safety car, when he came out on new tires I would have to push very hard to be able to keep him behind. And then, actually, the safety car arrived. »
“Yeah, I mean… It’s racing. Sometimes it works for you, sometimes it works against you. And even with that safety car, we still had every chance of winning, but we clearly weren’t fast enough after that safety car. Once I figured that out, I settled into a rhythm and tried to bring the car home with second place. »
If McLaren F1 performed eminently well, the Red Bull seemed to suffer from an unstable balance… the Milton Keynes car was unrecognizable.
“It was quite disappointing in the race. But also, I never really felt comfortable throughout the weekend. I think on the medium tires it was still OK, but on the hard tires it was a real disaster. I mean, just low grip, just very delicate balance at low speeds. I couldn’t really lean on my rear tires, while in high-speed corners I was understeering a lot. So when you have these two problems, you can’t balance the car either, because you’re chasing two different things. So yes, I was looking for grip…and I didn’t have much. »
The Pérez ‘torpedo’ almost took away Max Verstappen
Max Verstappen’s race could have ended however… at the first corner, since his teammate Sergio Pérez almost hit him like a torpedo! Did the Dutchman see how close Checo was to him?
“Yes, I was very conscious. I mean, I came around the corner and I saw him lock up the tires. And I watched the video after the race. There was like a scratch on my diffuser. So there may have been contact. But yes, it was a close call. It could have ended in disaster, of course, for the team too. So yes, I was lucky. »
Second incident that affected Max Verstappen’s race: when he hit the cone at turn 15… Did this damage his front wing? Can he explain the incident? Max Verstappen responds with humor!
“I didn’t like this cone, so I decided to remove it and test the durability of the front wing. So I did a crash test. Yes, there was no damage. »
However Christian Horner claimed that damage had been reported to Max Verstappen’s flat bottom…
“The feeling in the car was no different, so I don’t know. Maybe my flat bottom was already damaged. I don’t know. I mean I hit this thing and then my pace was the same, so I didn’t really know if there was any damage. »
