Verstappen admits: 'We came up a little short against Mercedes in that'

On Friday Max Verstappen seemed far away from victory, but on Saturday he and Red Bull Racing turned things around and took pole. The championship leader then turned it into a fine home victory at Circuit Zandvoort, where he drove with a special helmet as a tribute to his father Jos. In this way his father more or less won a Formula 1 race, according to Verstappen.

Verstappen happy that father Jos could be there

Due to a negative Covid test, Jos Verstappen was able to be present at Zandvoort at the last minute. Verstappen is happy that his father was able to witness his second home victory in person, during a weekend in which the Red Bull Racing driver drove with a very special helmet: the helmet design that his father used in his days as a Formula 1 driver. "Now my dad has won a race in Formula 1 after all," Verstappen laughed in conversation with The Telegraph.

The race in Zandvoort was anything but a smooth ride, unlike the Belgian Grand Prix a week earlier. Verstappen and Red Bull had to work hard for it and the strategists, led by Hannah Schmitz, also had a crucial role to play. Tyres were also an important factor, as they have been in every race this season.

Verstappen fared well on the soft tyre, but the other compounds posed a greater challenge. "On the hard tyre we were a bit short of the speed of Mercedes, but we had a big gap. When the safety car came, we had to stop. And then as a driver you have to rely on your team", concludes Verstappen, who has increased his lead over Charles Leclerc to 109 points.