Max Verstappen: We are preparing novelties for the race in Hungary

At a press conference after the finish of the British Grand Prix, Max Verstappen commented on his 43rd career victory, joining forces in Formula 1 and spoke about the new products the team is preparing for the next stage in Hungary.

Q: Max, congratulations on your sixth win in a row! How hard was the race for you?
Max Verstappen: Yes, the race is not exactly easy. I had a bad start due to a strong skid. So I had to work hard to overtake Lando Norris – it took several laps. It then took a few more laps for the tires to cool down, allowing Lando to follow me into the DRS zone.

However, after figuring everything out, I started to get away with every lap. I think at one point I had a nine second lead before the safety car, which is positive.

Everything went well, but I was surprised by the high speed of McLaren or Lando itself throughout the segment. Then, because of the safety car, I had to decide which tires to put on: soft or hard. We chose Soft and at the time it seemed like the right decision.

However, after two or three laps after the restart I realized it was quite difficult to maintain their temperature. The separations didn’t change, but it wasn’t very pleasant to fly. We will analyze this situation later – maybe it was worth putting hard tires. At least I could have attacked harder the whole way. Maybe it would have been harder for me in the first two or three laps, but closer to the finish I would have gone a little faster.

Question: What exactly happened to you during the start?
Max Verstappen: Strong wheelspin, which made me lose in the momentum of acceleration in the segment before the first corner. Lando took the lead and I tried to avoid more problems in Turns 3 and 4. I fought Oscar Piastri in Copse – I had to stay out. Everything else worked out.

Q: During the race you told the team over the radio that the car was pulling to the side. How serious was the problem?
Max Verstappen: Nothing serious, but I like to inform the team about such things. The wind was very strong and at some point the behavior of the car became unpredictable, and I reported it.

Question: What do you think of the balance of power behind Red Bull Racing?
Max Verstappen: It is very confusing to me that every race weekend there is someone new right behind us. I think this is due to the fact that the fight is very tight – as soon as someone gets into the working range of the car better, or the track suits someone better, and he is in front.

Honestly, I don’t know which team will be the second fastest in Hungary. The only stable factor is that we stay on top every weekend, which is of course the most important thing for us. But I repeat, in Hungary the circuit is of a completely different type and we will bring updates to the car. Hope they work.

Q: At one point in the race you told the team that you saw Charles Leclerc going to the pits. Did his early pit stop throw you off?
Max Verstappen: I just wanted to check everything with the team. When I saw Ferrari’s pit stop, I asked the team: “We’re staying on track, aren’t we?” And they answered me: “Yes, we are sticking to the strategy.”

As for leaving the safety car, we would be making a pit stop soon anyway. I also asked the team which tires to put on: soft or hard. We chose soft tires and maybe the safety car even saved them a bit for a few laps, but I’m not sure at the moment.

Question: You mentioned that the team will bring new items to Hungary. Can you tell us in what areas you need to improve the car?
Max Verstappen: Straight line resistance, low, medium and high cornering speed, DRS efficiency, tire wear… We need to improve in all these areas and we are working on it. It is also necessary to improve the efficiency of the car during braking. I’m not joking!