Max Verstappen: There are no easy races

In true championship style, Max Verstappen won the Qatar Grand Prix and commented post-race on the key moments of the weekend, and while he answered some questions he didn’t hold back his emotions too much..

Question: Max, great race! A lot happened on the track, but it didn’t seem like your victory was in danger. Did everything go as smoothly as it seems from the outside?
Max Verstappen: Simple breeds do not exist. I think Lando Norris was right behind me for the entire first stint, I think the interval between our cars ranged from 1.6 to 1.9 seconds.

At the same time, you can’t make mistakes, and we didn’t make any, and at one point we even attacked to the limit. To be honest it was a lot of fun to drive because the rubber in most races is subject to degradation so you have to take good care of it.

It feels like it could have been attacked more aggressively here and I like the layout of this issue. The grip was excellent and the first part of the race went well. During the second segment the rhythm was of course more erratic, because the safety car was on the track and it was very difficult to keep the tire temperature at the required level.

My second restart didn’t go well, I tried to do something else but the tires were too cold so the car kept skidding and the rear wheels didn’t provide the necessary grip when accelerating. Overall, the situation was not ideal.

Everything else is fine though, the pace was good and I’m very happy with the progress we’ve made compared to the start of the weekend.

Q: On Saturday you said you weren’t sure how the car would perform over the race distance. To what extent did her behavior during those 57 laps surprise you?
Max Verstappen: I want to say that in the past races, which took place on dry asphalt, we could not find the optimal approach to working with rubber. That’s why after qualifying I preferred to be more cautious in my predictions. But everything turned out great.

Although the car’s behavior still doesn’t quite suit me – let’s say, compared to last season. In any case, we are fighting for race victories again. If we study the behavior of the RB20, emphasize the positive aspects, and also take into account the experiences of last year and try to build a more efficient car, then we can be very competitive again next season, I have no doubt about that.

Q: You already mentioned that Lando was chasing you closely in the first part of the race. It looks like you managed to gain back a few tenths in the first two sectors, but in the last sector he overtook you again. How difficult was it to make up time on different parts of the track, and how exactly did you handle it?
MaxVerstappen: Actually, during the first segment I felt that everything was going very well in the first two sectors. But in my opinion, Lando attacked more aggressively in the third sector and I had to put more effort into controlling him.

Of course at one point he tried to get closer, so I had to speed up in the last sector. But he still went very fast, including in the last corner, where our weaknesses were visible to some extent, even in qualifying.

Overall we were on equal footing, and in almost every round. It was great, I liked it.

Question: How did you react to yesterday’s fine? Were you surprised? And what do you think of George Russell’s role in this whole story?
MaxVerstappen: To be honest, I couldn’t believe I was getting a fine. Let’s just say I thought nothing else in this world could surprise me. I can’t be happy about it, but at some point you just have to turn the page.

I think this is the first time someone has been penalized for a slow lap. Although I just tried to act correctly. Maybe I shouldn’t do this again in the future. You see, at the end of the season, when everything was more or less decided, especially for me, I didn’t stop anyone from preparing for a fast lap. But in the end he was fined for it.

I tried to explain this too, but it felt like I was talking to a brick wall. I think I was talking about the real reasons for what happened, and it was clear that there were different scenarios around me as well. Someone was running on colder tires and stuff, so they still had to attack to warm them up, and I did that.” I don’t want to cause a traffic jam in the last bend.

Overall, this really surprised me. Now let’s move on to the second part of the question. I was sitting in the stewards’ room and what happened there stunned me. To be honest, I’m very disappointed because I always thought we all respect each other here. I have been in the stewards’ room many times and have never seen someone so clearly trying to deceive someone. In short, I lost all respect.

Question: Were you surprised that the safety car only came out after two laps, while there was a broken mirror on the track at the end of the straight? What do you think of this situation?
MaxVerstappen: To be honest, I found it difficult to assess the situation. I didn’t even know it was a mirror. Of course I saw some debris, but there were other races where there was some kind of debris outside the course. I guess the decision wasn’t that easy.

And only then, in my opinion, a car drove over this mirror, after which carbon fragments scattered around. Of course I don’t know exactly what caused the punctures, but this probably still needs to be analyzed. But for now it is difficult for me to give a clear insight into the situation.

Q: You immediately realized that Lando wasn’t slowing down under the yellow flags. You may remember Brazil, where, unlike some of your rivals, you were aware of the canceled start rule. It seems that you have studied the rules thoroughly, down to the smallest detail. Are you specifically working on this?
MaxVerstappen: I was sure I had gone slower because I saw double yellow flags. And of course he also understood that if he did not take his foot off the accelerator, an investigation would begin immediately. Therefore, I tried to do everything as it should be done.

I asked if Lando had slowed down, because in my opinion he could have used DRS at that moment behind a car that was a lap behind. And when we came out of Turn 1, I saw that he was already much closer. That’s why I asked the team to check this out. I mean, this was a common question. And of course I understood that in the case of double yellow flags the penalty would be very serious.