Max Verstappen: I had no room for mistakes

Max Verstappen won the Canadian Grand Prix for the first time in his career and increased his lead in the individual classification to 46 points. Summarizing the weekend, the Red Bull Racing driver acknowledged Ferrari’s high speed and noted that a large championship lead at this stage of the season is no guarantee.

Ask Max, in the last 16 laps Carlos Sainz put pressure on you but you kept the situation under control. How would you rate the race that ended with your first win in Canada?
Max Verstappen: The race was difficult. I mean, I was counting on a faster pace, but we lacked a little bit of speed compared to Carlos. He turned out to be the only Ferrari representative I can compare myself to.

The result is more difficult than I expected. On the other hand, we stuck to our strategy and it worked. After the second pit stop on new tyres, I closed the gap on Carlos, but I wasn’t sure if I could overtake him at the end of the race, but then the safety car came on track. I wasn’t happy about this because I knew Carlos would go to the pits and come back with fresher tires behind me. I understood that it would be difficult for me to defend, given his speed advantage.

In the last 15-16 laps I attacked at full power, pushed to the limit. I knew I had no right to make a mistake, but the fight turned out well. It’s always nice to get the most out of a Formula 1 car instead of skimping on tyres.

Question Carlos was almost really catching up at one point?
Max Verstappen: For overtaking, no, he wasn’t, but still he was very close to all these circles and was constantly in the DRS zone. As far as I understand he has never fallen outside the DRS zone, so there was always pressure from him.

Q: How do you evaluate the start?
Max Verstappen: Due to the rain on Saturday, the grip was very low. I knew in the beginning it wasn’t going to be easy, but I think I did it right.

Q: Are you having problems with the radio? We didn’t hear you on the return round.
Max Verstappen: Yes, the radio stopped working at some point.

Q: But it worked during the race? When did the problem occur?
Max VerstappenA: I have no idea when the radio stopped working. At one point in the race, Gianpiero (Lambiase, race engineer) said he couldn’t hear me. The important thing is that I heard it.

Q: You gradually widen the championship gap and have already brought it to 46 points. How comfortable do you feel with this benefit?
Max Verstappen: There are still many races before the end of the season. Yes, the gap is wide, but I know the situation can change very quickly. After the third race I was 46 points behind, so it’s important to stay focused and improve because in the last race we weren’t the fastest.

The situation changes every weekend – in the last leg we had a good race pace, in Canada it was worse, but we still managed to win. The team and I have to keep working together and try to improve the car little by little.