Max Verstappen on how he won the Hungarian race from tenth place…
Q: Max, after qualifying you were upset, but today you are happy. Tell me how it was…
Max Verstappen: Yes, I don’t think anyone expected this win. Before the race we told each other in the team that it was important to keep calm and hold back. We did everything right, made the right strategic decisions.
At first I was careful not to become a participant in the incident, then I made several overtakes, we changed tires on time, put the right tires on. It was important to get the right grip. And gradually I made progress.
The last pit stop went perfectly, everything went exactly as we had planned. I saw that Charles had problems with the hard tires, I chose the moment and attacked. Right, then I turned around and lost my position. A bit of bad luck. But I caught up with Charles again, went ahead and checked the gap. It started to rain, I didn’t take any risks and drove calmly to the finish.
Q: At what point did you feel like you could win?
Max Verstappen: After the last pit stop. I saw that there was no way Charles could warm up the tires and realized I could overtake him.
Q: At the beginning of the weekend you said that your car will not be the fastest in Hungary. What are you saying?
Max Verstappen: We were competitive, but Ferrari chose the wrong tires for the last stint, so Charles had to go back to the pits. But before that they were fast.
In the beginning we did the right thing by using Soft – they provide better grip so you can better control the situation. It was important at every moment of the race to be on the optimal rubber for this moment. A lot depends on the little things.
We keep working on the car, there are several areas where we need to improve in order to perform better. After the summer holidays we are waiting for tracks with completely different characteristics. It’s interesting how it ends there.
Q: You have won eight of the thirteen races, with an 80 point lead over Charles Leclerc. Safely on holiday now?
Max VerstappenA: The advantage is really big. But not every time everything will go like in Hungary. Also during this race there were problems with the clutch and shifting. We keep working and trying to improve the car.
Q: You said Ferrari made a mistake by setting Hard. Have you thought about it yourself? Or did you know that they wouldn’t work in cold weather?
Max Verstappen: Initially we planned to start on Hard, but when I went to the grid on Soft, the car didn’t have enough grip anymore – it became clear that it was impossible to start on Hard. Thanks to the team for the quick response. We built the whole strategy on using Hard in the first segment, but just before the race everything changed and I started on Soft.
Hard tires are too hard for this track – you saw it with Charles and Carlos – their cars skidded.
Q: You have already won eight races. Can you beat Vettel and Schumacher’s record of 13 wins over the season?
Max Verstappen: I don’t know. Of course we will try to win as many races as possible. But it is even more important to maintain championship leadership. This is what we’re going to focus on.
Source: F1 News
I’m Todderic Kirkman, a journalist and author for athletistic. I specialize in covering all news related to sports, ranging from basketball to football and everything in between. With over 10 years of experience in the industry, I have become an invaluable asset to my team. My ambition is to bring the most up-to-date information on sports topics around the world.
