Verstappen also suffered from graining: "Hard to get into that DRS window"
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Max Verstappen was on Charles Leclerc's tail throughout the sprint race, but seemed to wait for his chance until the in closing stages. After the Red Bull Racing driver struck, he quickly ran away from his rival, but that's not to say he held back until that point.
Because he distanced himself from Leclerc so quickly, it was suggested here and there that he had been saving up until the moment of his overtake, but according to Verstappen there was no question of that. "I think we were pretty much flat out in the beginning," he explained during the press conference after the sprint race.
Tyres made it difficult for Verstappen
The Dutchman emphasizes that there was that possibility because of the relatively small number of laps. "But of course we knew that on these tyres it was going to be tough at the end of the race, like the last few laps," he continues.
For Verstappen and Red Bull, it worked out well in this case, while Leclerc suffered more from graining. Still, things got tense for Verstappen too as he approached his rival to within a second. "It's still very hard to pass because you still need to use up your tyres. Getting in that DRS window was hard," said the reigning world champion.