Verstappen: Las Vegas weekend schedule needs to be changed

After the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the winner, Max Verstappen, spoke about the events of the race on the new city circuit and also expressed the wish that next year the weekend schedule would be changed.

Question: During the entire race, from start to finish, there was a constant battle on the track, all kinds of events were happening – how did you manage to deal with everything that happened to you and still win?
MaxVerstappen: Very good question. I just kept fighting. I mean, of course the race was a bit hectic, and it all started with a 5 second time penalty, and then I had to pit due to tire degradation – our car didn’t work so well on the Medium for some reason -tyres.

Then I got stuck in traffic and had to be patient with the cars in front of me. But we did well, although there was a small clash with George Russell. I think he didn’t see me and that the front fender of my car was damaged.

Fortunately, its structure remained intact, which was very important. And then the safety car came onto the track, we made another pit stop and put on a second set of hard tires. And then the fun began! What I mean is that between me and Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc there were also McLaren and Alpine cars, but when I got ahead of them I could already start arguing for victory, after which I had to attack with full force until the very last moment . finish. And it was really great!

Q: Can you list everything that happened in Turn 1 in chronological order? How would you react to what happened there? And how did you react to the 5 second penalty?
Max Verstappen: The start was good, but then I had to brake quite late to protect my position, but I think I went a bit to the inside of the track, and it was quite muddy there. On this circuit, as soon as you leave the racing line, the grip is at a very low level.

That’s what happened: I braked, but there was no clutch. I didn’t mean to push Charles off the track, but I couldn’t slow down and kept sliding to the right on all four wheels. So we had to stop on the side of the road.

You understand, at such moments the adrenaline shoots through the roof, and I did not like the decision of the stewards. But when I analyze these events, I think they did the right thing. But after this 5 second penalty it was of course a little more difficult to move forward.

Question: There was a large oil slick in front of your car on the starting field – how did you avoid it? There was an incident between you and Charles and on the track you fought a real battle, but after the race you communicated calmly with each other. Does this indicate that you have built a good relationship over the years?
MaxVerstappen: If oil ends up on the track, this is not an ideal scenario. During the Pilots’ Parade, oil leaked from historic cars and this probably needs to be fixed. It’s a shame that this happened. Because of this I had to take a bit to the left in the beginning.

After which, of course, a small incident happened, and I explained to Charles how it happened – I think my actions were very natural, we did this in the days of karting. It’s good when fighting on the court is fun and everyone on this court has had a duel of some sort, so there’s always something to talk about.

Q: You said the car didn’t perform best on Medium tires. What was the reason for that?
MaxVerstappen: I do not know yet. This remains to be analyzed. Because these tires worked fine during training.

Question: How was the car’s behavior on hard tires? It seems the pace was good even with the damaged front wing…
MaxVerstappen: Yes, I think hard rubber was more resistant to granulation, because on the Medium I had exactly this problem and the grip started to deteriorate. But on Hard there were no such problems, and this certainly helped.

Q: In terms of a five-second penalty, do you think George deserved to be punished for that incident?
MaxVerstappen: It’s always difficult to judge such incidents because he didn’t do it intentionally. I think he just didn’t expect me to overtake him in that corner. I walked to the inner aisle and he turned around as if no one was there. So I guess he just didn’t see me.

Q: You already said that you enjoyed the last part of the race. Can you share your impressions about this route? Why was the fight over it so interesting?
MaxVerstappen: I think this is due to the fact that hard rubber degradation was at such a low level. Of course, this was also facilitated by the slipstream effect on long straights. Perhaps it was partly a headwind that blew along a straight line.

I guess if you’re chasing an opponent you waste almost no time in slow turns. And then there are many high-speed sections on the track – from the 4th to the 5th, from the 9th to the 12th, and of course all the way to the 12th to the 14th and from the 16th to the 1st. All this makes racing much more interesting.

Question: Can we say that the Las Vegas race was the best of the season in this regard?
MaxVerstappen: First we have to remember all the other races, so it’s hard to comment, but the race is fun, I liked it.

Question: Say a few words about your partner, because today Sergio Perez took 2nd place in the individual championship…
MaxVerstappen: Yes, the team set this goal initially, so we are very satisfied. Even on the last lap I tried to give Sergio the opportunity to take advantage of the slipstream behind my car, but unfortunately he didn’t have enough top speed to hold off Charles Leclerc. A shame of course, because it would have been even better if we had provided Red Bull with a winning double.

Question: How would you react if the FIA ​​decided not to fine you, but asked you to give back Leclerc’s position? Would you accept it? Or do you think a 5 second penalty is a more profitable option for you?
MaxVerstappen: At that moment we chose to keep the lead and were given a 5 second time penalty. Ultimately, I don’t know which is better. It doesn’t matter now because I’ve served my fine, right? If you give up the position you end up losing the same five seconds, so I guess it doesn’t matter much.

Question: Before the start of the weekend you criticized this stage quite harshly, saying that the Las Vegas Grand Prix is ​​99% show and only 1% sport. But now you’ve probably won one of the best races of the season, if not the best. When you returned to the pit lane after the finish, you sang Viva Las Vegas (Elvis Presley’s 1964 hit) as you drove. Have you still not changed your mind about this stage, or has Las Vegas managed to win you over?
MaxVerstappen: I always assumed this race would be interesting. I never had any questions about the circuit and today everything was very nice. That’s the one thing I want to emphasize: it was fun. I hope everyone enjoyed the race. The effect of DRS was strong, but also contributed to an interesting battle on the track.

Christian Horner let me sing and I couldn’t let the team down, so I had to. But I definitely need to take some singing lessons – I guess I’ll have to do that!

Q: The weekend was preceded by a lot of hype, but in the end it all ended with an exciting race. What would you like to change before the next Las Vegas Grand Prix?

MaxVerstappen: I think we obviously have to adjust the weekend schedule. Another thing is that this probably won’t work next year, but at least we can make the calendar more convenient, because we fly from Las Vegas to Abu Dhabi and the time difference will be very big, as much as 12 hours. Especially at the end of the season, when everyone is tired. I think this is already a bit of an exaggeration.

Perhaps ideally it would be worth looking for some other dates. I think it would be better to arrange the away legs in such a way that it would be something like an American tour. I understand that this will not be an ideal situation in terms of ticket sales, but perhaps a solution can be found.

Q: Flying from here to Abu Dhabi will be an ordeal for everyone. How do you deal with it?
MaxVerstappen: I’ll try to get some sleep on the flight so I can keep up with next weekend’s schedule. But I’ll confuse what time zone I’m in because in Las Vegas we lived almost on Japan time. I don’t know, I’ll try to do something all the time to reduce the effects of the flight, maybe I’ll train a little.