Max Verstappen fifth at Russian Grand Prix: 'It went well'

Published on 30 September 2018 by Mike Motilall

Max Verstappen came in fifth at the Russian Grand Prix. On his 21st birthday the Dutchman had to start the race from the back of the grid but was quickly able to work his way through the pack up to P5. Because Max had a very late stop, he led almost half of the race. After his pit stop, Verstappen rejoined in fifth. Lewis Hamilton won the race, albeit he had been helped by his Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas. The Finn was ordered to let Hamilton pass during the race and consequently came in second fastest. Sebastian Vettel rounded up the podium.

A satisfied Max had this to say after the race: “It went well. The target had always been to finish fifth, but we can be very satisfied the way we achieved that today. I had a decent start and was able to move through the traffic and before long I was fifth, so that was very good. My car felt good and the grip was also immediately there, so we were able to easily move up. It all felt good, so I am very happy with that.”

After his stop in the closing stages of the race, it appeared that the Dutchman wasn’t making much of an effort to close the gap to the front runners. Verstappen explains: “We had to bring the car home and there wasn’t much more in store. Just no chance. The left front tyres would be destroyed after a few laps, so you are not really able to push.”

Next weekend the Japanese Grand Prix is on the agenda. Max finished second fastest the past two years on the circuit at Suzuka. Will he be able to go for the podium this year? “We need to wait and see because there is a straight without any DRS, which makes it extra painful for us. Even today you saw that when Lewis got close he wasn’t able to attack, so everything will depend on qualifying, but we will see. The car was in any case great again this weekend”, says Max.

After some celebration in the morning and a piece of cake, Both Max’ and the team’s focus quickly shift to race mode. Due to a grid place penalty for changing parts of the drive shaft, Max will be starting the race from P19. On the softer tyre the Dutchman has a good getting off the line. After one lap Verstappen is already twelfth. In the following laps, he makes little work of Carlos Sainz, Marcus Ericsson and Romain Grosjean and is already in the points. At the front, Bottas retains his lead having started from pole. He is followed by team mate Hamilton with the Ferrari’s of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen trailing in third and fourth.

Verstappen is by now cruising his way like a warm knife through butter and is after eight laps running in fifth. The Toro Rosso drivers are less fortunate. Both Pierre Gasly and Brendon Hartley spin and are forced to shortly afterwards park their cars in the pits due to brake issues.

On lap twelve, race leader Bottas does his pit stop. The Finn changes to a set of softs and drops back to behind of Verstappen in P5. Vettel follows one lap later, putting Max in third. On lap 15, Hamilton also makes his stop and the Briton loses his spot to Vettel. Hamilton however immediately increases the pressure on the German. After being blocked on the straight by Vettel, Hamilton still manages to overtake the Ferrari running driver with a daring move in Turn five.

On lap 19 Kimi Raikkonen does his stop, leaving Verstappen to take the lead of the race. The Dutchman is able to maintain the tempo and the lot behind him is not able to pass. On lap 25 Mercedes issue a team order to Bottas. The Finn duly complies. He lets Hamilton by and acts in this manner as a buffer between Hamilton and Vettel.

On lap 40, Daniel Ricciardo comes in from sixth. Apart from new tyres, the Ozzie also gets a new front wing as he suffered some damages at the start. Due to his massive lead on Leclerc, he rejoins in sixth again. On lap 44, Verstappen eventually makes his stop. He swaps the softs for a set of ultra-softs and rejoins the field after a flawless stop in fifth.

In the closing stages of the race, Max tones down a bit and brings his car safely home to a fifth place finish. ‘The first few laps were exciting’, says Max after the race on the radio. The ten points and having led the race for the major part are a nice birthday present.

At the front, Hamilton takes home the victory with team mate Bottas finishing in second. The mood is somber for the Mercedes drivers as Bottas is clearly disappointed with his second place finish. Ferrari-drivers Vettel and Raikkonen come in third and fourth fastest. Ricciardo is sixth while Charles Leclerc takes home a decent seventh fastest finish for Sauber. Kevin Magnussen, Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez all round up the top 10.

Results Grand Prix Russia: