Verstappen: "I could soon see that I could not stay close to Mercedes"

Max Verstappen has once again clearly seen the place of Red Bull Racing in Belgium. The Dutchman managed to stay close to Mercedes in the opening phase, but in the end he had to acknowledge his superior in Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton. Verstappen himself indicates that he never really had a fight with Mercedes.

"It wasn't really a fight with Mercedes today, I was just trying to drive my own race. I could soon see that I couldn't really follow them. I tried to put some pressure on Valtteri Bottas on the hardest tyre, but then they told him he could drive faster, from there it was clear", the Dutchman explains to Sky Sports.

"From that moment on, they knew how to make the gap bigger. At one point I also got a lot of vibration and understeer so I decided to take it easy and just make sure the car reached the finish line, it was certainly not ideal but it is what it is. Daniel and I gave each other enough space in the first corner, so that all went well," Verstappen concludes.