Max Verstappen: « We managed the race well »
The executioner Max Verstappen has struck again. He left no illusion to the competition by taking the lead of the race right from the first braking point.
Yet not a fan of this sprint format, few of these Saturday races have escaped Max Verstappen in 2023. This is the fourth time this season that the Dutchman has won one of them. While the sprint format had revealed little of Red Bull’s pace over long stints, there was no doubt that the three-time reigning world champion would not experience the same result as during the Sprint Shoutout.
However, few thought that Verstappen would take the lead of the race so quickly. From the very first corner of the very first lap, the Red Bull driver dove on the inside of the McLaren. Managing to exit perfectly from the third corner, he then calmly managed his first kilometers of the race. George Russell managed to replicate the Dutchman’s pace for a while, but Verstappen had no intention of sharing the lion’s share. By the fourth lap, he managed to put the British driver a second behind him.
The end of the race was crystal clear. Alone in the world, he finished the race with the fastest lap to further reinforce his dominance. He crossed the finish line with over 4 seconds ahead of Norris, but most notably, 13 seconds ahead of his own teammate. Max Verstappen is truly alone at the top.
It was important to take the lead of the race from the start. My initial traction wasn’t amazing, but the second part was really good, which allowed me to catch up to Norris. After that, it was just a matter of managing well. On this track, there is a lot of degradation, so maintaining a 24-lap relay is very long. We managed the race well.
