Another win for two-time world champion Max Verstappen, but this one certainly has a different taste: it secures Red Bull’s 100th Grand Prix triumph and puts level with the great Ayrton Senna in the all-time F1 winners’ list, equalling 41 wins.
Putting aside the landmarks that marked his Sunday, it was not a straightforward race for the Dutch driver, despite having led every lap from pole position. The tyres of his RB19 were not really getting in the operating window, making it really difficult to keep the grip which was disappearing very quickly, and combined with the temperature, it meant they were always running quite cold.
“I didn’t really know what to expect because of the track in general. So it had nothing to do with competitors or whatever. But just for myself as well,” commented Verstappen during the press conference after the race. “We changed the car around quite a bit compared to Friday, so I didn’t really know how it would feel today. But luckily, it went in the right direction.
“We had to push actually quite hard on the tyre. And then with low grip, low rubber, it was not the easiest or most straightforward. But everything went well, just the hard tyre. Probably that stint was a bit of a limitation, because of the harder compound, even harder to keep the tyre temps.
“I think we know that our car normally is very good when there’s high deg compared to other cars. And today probably you would have needed a car which is a bit harder on the tyre, to keep the temperatures in, you know. So it’s probably not been our best race today. But still, to win by nine seconds, I think shows that we have a great car.”
Photo Credit: Red Bull Content Pool
Asked what are his thoughts on his contribution to Red Bull’s 100 wins in Formula 1, Verstappen joked about it saying: “Yeah, I mean, I’ve won 41 of them! But, yeah, we’ll talk about maybe a new contract because of that!”
Then adding: “No, honestly, it’s a great achievement for the team. We knew that this was the first opportunity, of course, to do so. And I’m happy that’s done. We’ve won 100. But again, I hope we win more than 100. So the new target is 200.”
Being flanked by the name of the legendary Ayrton Senna certainly has a certain effect and for an F1 driver it is undoubtedly a source of pride and satisfaction. However, the now 41-time Grand Prix winner admits that he does not like the comparisons between different generations, commenting to be simply proud of the achievement and ready to achieve more and more victories in his career.
“I hate to compare different generations. From my side, the only thing I can say is that when I was a little kid driving in go-karting, I was dreaming about being a Formula 1 driver and I would have never imagined to win 41 Grands Prix.
“So of course, to tie with Ayrton is something incredible. And of course, I’m proud of that, but of course, I hope it’s not stopping here. You know, I hope that we can keep on winning more races.”
