Max looks back at China: 'It's still a long season'
Published on 15 April 2019 by Mike Motilall
Max Verstappen finished fourth at the Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday. The strategy the Aston Martin Red Bull Racing team used ensured that Max was able to get ahead of Ferrari-running Charles Leclerc. For a brief moment it also looked like the youngster would be able to also make little work of Sebastian Vettel. The German was running in third position, and after Max made an attempt to overtake him, which was skillfully avoided, he disappeared in his Ferrari. By means of a Skype-chat session in Ziggo Sport’s Peptalk, Max looks back at his performance in China and previews the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Max is already at home in Monaco, after the Chinese Grand Prix. He is asked in what manner he looks back at the race and if it wasn’t frustrating for him that his car was not a bit faster: “We did have another good result points wise, but during the race there was not much action. To say frustrating is a bit extreme, but at this moment we lack race pace so then you need to make sure that you extract as many points as possible. The season is still long and we have to hope that, at a certain point, when the upgrades come, we will be able to slot right back in.”
On the question if the collision with Vettel last year was still lingering in his head the moment he tried to overtake the German, Max replies: “No, not at all. I saw an opportunity, but I was way too far from him and thought, I would still try it. I knew that he was faster and that he also had colder tyres, so I tried to outbrake him. Even if I would have passed him, he was still quicker on that tyre and he still would have overtaken me back again.”
Last year, in over half the races you won back some positions in the first few laps of a race, but not this year: “So far I haven’t really had any decent start. With the Honda-engine, we’re still trying to find a good start. That is something that can be improved.”
Finally, Max looks ahead at the race in Baku: “In Baku we are expecting new parts for the car and engine, the real work is set for a later date. It is hard to say at this moment. I find it a bit hard to be really able to gauge the season so far. This week Mercedes is fast and then the other week it’s Ferrari, for us it’s a bit of a question mark.”
