Qatar Grand Prix – Verstappen: « Not our best weekend »
After being demoted 5 places on the starting grid for improving his time in Q3 under double yellow flags, the Dutchman once again finished second behind his championship rival.

Max Verstappen once again minimizes the damage. It was not a foregone conclusion after his demotion of 5 places on the starting grid (he improved his time in Q3 while double yellow flags were being waved following Pierre Gasly’s wingloss), forcing him to start behind Valtteri Bottas, Lewis Hamilton’s teammate, all on a circuit where overtaking was expected to be difficult.
But in the end, once again a failed start by the Finnish driver and a clever start by the Dutch driver, followed by a lightning-fast comeback, allowed him to finish in second place, all while setting the fastest lap of the race.
« It was very important to try to get rid of the drivers in front of me as quickly as possible. I had a very good start and I was already in 4th place after the first corner. In 5 laps I was already 2nd and I tried to get as close to Lewis as possible and I think it worked rather well. We simply didn’t have the pace to fight with Mercedes this weekend so I just tried to keep up. In the end, it was okay: I set the fastest lap and I was quite satisfied because it earned me an extra point. Overall, it wasn’t our best weekend but there are still two Grand Prix races to go and a lot of things can happen. So we’ll see. »
Verstappen maintains an 8-point lead over Lewis Hamilton in the championship with two races to go in what is shaping up to be a highly anticipated finale.