Max Verstappen: I wasn’t sure if I could stop Lando

At the finish of the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, Max Verstappen had less than a second lead over Lando Norris. This Formula 1 season has never seen such close results, and after the race Max commented on the results of the seventh stage.

Question: Max, what a race and what solid results! How difficult was it for you in the last laps?
Max Verstappen: First of all I have to say that I had a very good stint on the Medium tires. I didn’t expect to show such a pace considering how the weekend went for us. Somehow, though, a balance was found, making the car handle well.

However, after switching to Hard everything became… I don’t mean the first five or ten laps, but after that I doubted whether I could ride this set to the finish. The tires were simply out of their working range – I was driving as if I were on ice and felt that the tires did not have enough grip, like in turn seven for example. I almost crashed into the stands.

It was very difficult to drive, so we had to stick to strange trajectories. In the last ten laps of the race I was just trying to survive with these tires, and then Lando Norris suddenly increased his speed. I saw him, I saw him overtaking me.

I wasn’t confident that I could keep him at bay and I just did my best, attacking as hard as I could, considering the grip I had. Fortunately, the cycles are over.

Q: At what point did you realize that Lando could pose a serious threat?
Max Verstappen: As soon as he started gaining half a second per lap, I thought, “Wow! It’s a lot”. On the other hand, I couldn’t do anything about it and just tried to follow my own pace. I couldn’t suddenly add half a second per lap because I didn’t have balance. So I tried to avoid mistakes, avoid balance problems minimize and be fast on the straights.

The rear wing we installed allowed us to go quite fast on the straights. It probably helped me with my defense in the last laps.

Question: Considering the speed in Friday’s practice, are you satisfied with the car’s speed in the race?
Max Verstappen: Yes, on Friday we were far behind for a long series of laps. I didn’t feel good about it at all. Even on Saturday morning we tried to work on a long series, but that also turned out to be unsuccessful – we were very unhappy.

However, the car became much better in qualifying. I knew it would be, but I didn’t realize how much better it would be. And we didn’t have enough information about tires. Maybe we were wrong about this. Everything was fine on the Medium, but the Hard tires didn’t work at all. We have to analyze everything and understand the reasons.

Question: What does this all mean for the next stage in Monaco?
Max Verstappen: Nothing, because Monaco has a completely different circuit. But we see that the battle is very fierce now. I think I could go faster on the Medium tires, but I had no pace at all on the Hard tires. As a result, we were as close to the finish as we were to the start.

The competition is very tight and Monaco is usually very turbulent. In qualifying you have to drive a perfect lap and get the tires working when necessary, which is usually very difficult. In that respect, the stage in Monaco is special.

Question: This weekend you achieved two victories: in Imola and in the virtual 24-hour race at the Nürburgring. Have you ever won two races in one day?
Max Verstappen: Well, not in one day, and certainly not a virtual race. Great achievement. I have done a lot of preparation for this, so I am very happy with the result.

Q: Did you work overnight shifts in the virtual race?
Max Verstappen: I had a few evening segments, but not at night. At night I had to sleep.

Question: During the race you were shown a black and white flag for exceeding the boundaries of the track. Did you adjust your driving style afterwards?
Max Verstappen: The team informed me, and from that moment on I started to act more cautiously. The problem arose in the first stint when I had severe understeer on the Medium tires. This caused me to miss the top several times and go wide.

After switching to Hard I started to give myself a little more space, but when Lando started to overtake me it became more difficult because I obviously had to use the full width of the track. However, I stayed within the white lines, which required more concentration. Exiting each turn I had to be confident in my actions.

Question: What exactly was the problem with the hard tires?
Max Verstappen: I just couldn’t get them to work. I felt like they were out of operating temperature range. And with each round it got worse and worse. The last fifteen laps felt like I was on ice because the tires were no longer working. We have to analyze everything.

Question: How difficult was the race physically?
Max Verstappen: To be honest, my back hurts from the bumps. The track is not the most difficult in terms of loading, but it does have a lot of bumps. After just twenty laps I started to feel my back. Now I just want to go to bed. Maybe I’ll take a painkiller. And massage, I don’t know.