Max Verstappen has secured his fifth podium in seven races after achieving second place at the Spanish Grand Prix, a race marked by an incident with Lewis Hamilton during the first lap. The Dutch driver admitted that this action could have been disastrous for his race, although he believes he acted correctly by letting the Brit pass.
“We maximized the result and probably had a bit of luck with Lando’s unfortunate situation [Norris, who couldn’t pit under the VSC]. I didn’t have the pace of Kimi [Antonelli] and definitely didn’t have the pace of Lando,” Verstappen stated after the race.
Additionally, the Dutchman pointed out that the initial scare with Hamilton meant he had to give up two positions instead of one. “I received the report from my race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, to let Hamilton pass, but since Antonelli was between us, in practice I had to let two positions go,” Verstappen added.
Verstappen also noted that his compliance with his team’s instructions was necessary to avoid a penalty from the stewards: “If I hadn’t done that, I would have received a sanction. There was no option.” The driver considered that the incident with Hamilton was not entirely his fault, as the Brit had lost control of his vehicle.
“I would have sustained damage if I had stayed on track, so the victory wouldn’t have been possible. It’s that simple,” he explained. Regarding the race, Verstappen commented: “Sometimes we work with some setbacks from others, but we also try to maximize our opportunities, and maybe, yes, a bit overreach ourselves. And that’s good.”
Red Bull, despite good performance on some occasions, has acknowledged that it currently lacks the pace to consistently compete for victories, which raises concerns about the future of the season.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
