Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing endured a “difficult” race to finish second at the season-opening F1 Australian GP. The Dutchman spent most of the afternoon chasing the pace-setting McLaren cars. With a good haul of points in the bag, the reigning champion will leave Melbourne in a good mood.
Difficult but fun race at the F1 Australian GP for Max Verstappen
Red Bull came into the Australian Grand Prix on a pessimistic note with Verstappen saying that Red Bull was “too slow” in qualifying where he took third. It was surprising as Red Bull themselves seemingly struggled during the pre-season testing and Friday’s FP1 and FP2 sessions.
Things would turn for the better for the 27-year-old during the race as he managed to stay competitive in attacking the McLaren cars. He had fun challenging Lando Norris for the lead at the end after the latter lost a bit of momentum after going wide. But in the end, he would settle for second place.
“It was a difficult race, of course, but at the end, it was fun. Lando [Norris] had a little moment on entry of six, so he lost a lot of momentum there.
“That’s why I got close, and then I got DRS. I got close but it’s very hard to pass around here. It was fun those last laps, you know, pushing at least, when you’re fighting for the win.
“I’m just very happy to bring it home, score good points. This is, let’s say, a decent starting point for us.“
A spicy gamble worth taking
The race took place under changing conditions, and the grid began scrambling for the intermediates as it started to rain. McLaren pitted their drivers after they went off while Red Bull made a call to Verstappen to stay out. It was initially okay before the conditions worsened and Verstappen eventually pitted.
“It started to rain a bit. They [McLaren] went off, so it was a bit like a panic. Like, ‘Oh, I need to box’. So, they went [into the pits]. I stayed out the first time.
“Honestly, the first lap, I think it was alright. But then, unfortunately, the weather continued a little bit more on the other side of the track as well, and we had to box.“
Verstappen argued that it would not matter if Red Bull pitted him a lap earlier as he remains likely to be in second after that pit stop.
“At the end of the day, even if we had boxed one lap earlier, we would have still been P2 after that stop. I think it was worth the gamble. It was quite spicy out there with the slick tyres, but it was alright at the end.”
