Verstappen happy with Imola win: 'Leclerc had less tyres left at the end'

Max Verstappen seemed set to finish in second place of the sprint race in Imola, but in the closing stages he very quickly managed to close the gap towards Charles Leclerc, and on the penultimate lap he passed his rival in the Ferrari car. The Dutchman is happy with how Saturday turned out.

"The start was very bad, I don't know what exactly happened," said Verstappen, who will no doubt analyse with Red Bull where to improve on Sunday when the full race distance is driven. "I had too much wheelspin, but I had to stay calm," he added.

Verstappen's late pace resulted in him reappearing at the back of Leclerc's car in the closing stages."Charles had a bit more speed at the beginning, but he had less tyres left [than me] at the end. We were able to close the gap and go for the overtake at the second corner," he said.

RB18 looking good

So in terms of tyre degradation, things are looking good for the RB18, but the Dutchman doesn't want to celebrate too soon."Tomorrow it might be different again, because then other tyre compounds will also come into play, but at least this compound worked out well for us," says Verstappen, who will be keeping a close eye on his mirrors tomorrow. "If I have a start like today anyway [it might be different]," he laughed.