Max Verstappen: “I never really felt I was in the fight”

Max Verstappen finished fourth in the Belgian Grand Prix, behind Charles Leclerc, without ever managing to challenge the Ferrari driver. Frustrated, the Dutchman admitted he never really felt he could fight for the third place and identified a weakness in his car: tire management.

Difficulties during the race on Sunday

After a demonstration of strength during the Sprint race with a low downforce setup, Red Bull opted for a higher downforce configuration for the main race, anticipating a wet event. This choice sacrificed the top speed that Max Verstappen had benefited from the previous day.

But the weather conditions ultimately did not justify this gamble. The race was delayed by 80 minutes due to a waterlogged track and poor visibility. And after less than 10 laps on intermediate tires, the drivers already switched to slicks, a scenario not favorable to Red Bull.

« On the intermediates, we were a bit quicker thanks to the car’s setup », explained Max Verstappen. « But it was very difficult to overtake. At one point, I was really close in Eau Rouge, but you lose so much downforce following another car… The car becomes unstable, you can’t really hold the line. »

Once we switched to slicks, honestly, every lap I felt like Charles was pulling away a bit. He made a mistake and lost a second and a half, that’s why it seemed like I was back in the race, but in reality, I never really felt like I could fight.

A non-paying choice

Max Verstappen also regretted the choice of the rear wing, rendered useless by the rapidly changing conditions: « I’m always trying to fight, but today, it was partly because of the wing we had chosen. We did very few laps in the rain in the end, which is a shame, I think we could have really run. It’s not ideal… »

But for him, the main problem lies elsewhere: « The biggest issue remains tire management during the race. We are simply not performing well enough in that area. »

The Sprint on Saturday marked Max Verstappen’s first victory since the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix in May.

Asked about his weekend performance, he stated: « It’s obviously not where I want to be, but we’re trying. Yesterday, the result was positive, but not really realistic because we are clearly slower. Today, I gave it my all. »

« Overall, the decisions made and the setup with the wing did not help us. In an ideal scenario, P3 was the maximum possible… but that scenario didn’t happen today », he concludes.