Verstappen didn't want to take any risks: "But I was close to a flat tyre"

For Max Verstappen the Grand Prix of Belgium went as expected. The Dutchman tried to get close to the two Mercedes drivers in the opening phase, but battles failed in the top three. The Red Bull Racing driver finished in third place, behind Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton. The 22 year old agrees that there was nothing more he could do.

"To be honest, it was pretty boring. There wasn't much to do", Verstappen said afterwards in conversation with Martin Brundle. The Dutchman continues his story: "I couldn't keep up with them (Mercedes) when they started pushing. I ran out of tyres at the end of the race, so in the last eight laps we mainly saved the front tyres".

The Dutchman goes on to say: "It wasn't much fun on the track. On the mediums I didn't have much grip and on the hard tyre I could follow Valtteri at first, but when they told him to speed up, it was ready for me. It was pretty lonely," the Red Bull driver said.

At the end Verstappen said he was close to a flat tyre. Red Bull didn't want to do an extra pit stop. "I wasn't sure if it was easy to overtake him (Daniel Ricciardo) at their top speed, so I wanted to stay out. I was close to a flat tyre, but in the end more than a third place wasn't possible. It's better than nothing."