After a season full of doubts and various mishaps, Max Verstappen has found the way up to the podium in the GP of Spain after crossing the finish line in third position. The pilot Dutch, who rode always in the shadow of the Ferrari drivers, has taken advantage of the problems of Kimi Räikkönen and the erratic strategy of Sebastian Vettel to finish third in a race at the pace the Red Bull was not to reach the podium. For his part, Daniel Ricciardo had been fifth.
Max Verstappen was exultant before the podium: “The car has been very well, it is a circuit where it is difficult to overtake. We have kept close to the head and we have benefited from the withdrawal of Kimi Räikkönen. It’s nice to be on the podium and it is good to have a career almost clean. With luck, we can work from this base and get good results”.
Like many other racing drivers, Max Verstappen has had problems with degradation, although the dutchman has stated that everything has been under control, especially because he could not raise his pace behind Räikkönen: “, We have controlled well the degradation of the tyres. Had Bottas far away to attack you at the end of the race, but I had to try it. Before that, I was just controlling my pace. Was stuck behind Kimi, so I couldn’t go faster. I began to pilot the best way to preserve the tires”.
all in all, it has not been a race at all clean for Verstappen, who beat her to Stroll in the resalida after the Virtual Safety Car, damaging the side of his front wing: “was Trying to be as close as possible to Stroll. I felt that it slowed down a bit and it was very close, so we just played. Fortunately, was only the outer part of the wing and I was able to continue, although I had a little more understeer in high speed cornering. I initially thought I would have to go to the pits, but it was not so bad to be honest. didn’t affect me too much“.
Daniel Ricciardo discussed their Grand Prix after finishing fifth: “Was a race strange. At the beginning we had a good pace and it seemed that Kimi was slower than Max and me. Then it was not and I was not able to go with them. When we put the tire half we left in the middle of traffic and lost some rhythm. In addition, I had a spin at the resumption of the Virtual Safety Car, that I ended up leaving out of the race. Fortunately, the walls were not close to”.
In this line, the australian pilot recognized: “there Were moments in which the car was very fast, but it was difficult to maintain the pace lap. Was able to do the quick turn and the next turn I stay away. There is potential, but we have to learn to put it out in a manner consistent with this new package. in The end the race was pretty boring, but I’m going to try and get the positive aspects. Monaco should be our circuit more favorable to date, so I’m looking forward to getting there”.
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