Max’ sentiment unchanged: “Race in USA was super, punishment was not correct"
Published on 26 October 2017 by Mike Motilall
Max Verstappen takes his time in Mexico to look back at the USA Grand Prix in Austin during the FIA-press conference: “It was a very positive weekend. The car was fast and we had a reasonable qualifying, although I wasn’t happy with my own lap. But the car was performing well. The race itself, it was very important to clear a lot of cars in the first few laps and that’s what we did. Then we could do our own race again. The pace was, the car was feeling good. I was catching up and had some nice overtakings. Especially in the end, the last lap, I really enjoyed. That feeling was great. We should have got to the podium but got a penalty afterwards. We can talk about that for a long time, but still I had a great race, we have been very competitive the last three races and hopefully we can continue that here in Mexico.”
However, the press is still not over the highly controversial penalty which unleashed a storm of criticism worldwide. Max, were you trying to avoid an impact with Kimi Raikkonen when you went on the run off area? “ Yes, of course, at one point he realized I was trying to overtake him, so he tried to close the door. So you have to avoid it a bit. The Austin track has a lot of possibilities to also run on the inside, like you could see the whole weekend. First was to avoid an accident and then to try and overtake.”
Max is pretty straight forward, but does regret having used some words immediately after the race. Max: “After a race the emotions run high, especially when you have been taken of a podium, which I think I deserved. Because I think the punishment was not correct, because everybody was running off the track, in turn 19, 8 and 9, even in turn 6 when you are behind someone you were cutting the inside, a lot of cars were doing it. Also the fans they loved it, it was a great move and then they tell you you are gaining an advantage while overtaking someone. If I was really gaining an advantage I would do that every single lap, which we are not. So I don’t think it is gaining an advantage. A lot of other drivers did it as well, they were cutting the inside of the corners and I am the only one who was getting penalized. Of course, not correct. I think it’s quite normal that I get angry, of course I could have used a few different words, but at the end of the day I still think the decision is not correct. I could have used different words, for sure. But I was angry at that time, because I think the decision was not correct. You also have to understand my point of view. But the words were not correct, I can’t change that and it wasn’t meant to for anyone, I was not trying to offend anyone.”
What can be done to the circuits to deter situations like these? “I think we know quite well what to do and what not to do. But they never told us anything. From lap one in practice one, everybody was running wide and it was all fine. Then of course, if it is not mentioned, they never tell us anything, we try to go as quick as we can. I think there is a very simple solution: all put grass or gravel on the inside, so you cannot cut over the curbs.”
