Verstappen makes a strong impression: 'That's where I made the gap'

Max Verstappen has already secured his first win of 2023. In the Bahrain Grand Prix, he was lord and master and did not have to pull out all the stops to cross the line first. Afterwards, the 25-year-old driver says he actually won the race in the first 15 laps.

Verstappen hits his stride early on

"Yes, it was a very good first stint. I made the gap. From there it was all about looking after the tyres," Verstappen said in a conversation with Nico Rosberg afterwards. The two-time world champion stayed focused to keep his tyres strong. "You never know what can happen later in the race," he said.

During the Grand Prix, Verstappen complained of some small problems when downshifting. "Nothing big. Little things that you always want to fine-tune. It's easy to get on top of," said the Dutchman, who is happy with his RB19. "I think we have a good race package. We can fight with this."

The extra World Championship point for the fastest race lap did not go to Verstappen. For a long time it looked like Pierre Gasly would get to add an extra World Championship point, but in the closing stages, it was Guanyu Zhou (who had just made a pit stop) who drove the fastest lap. Because the Chinese driver finished outside the top ten, he does not get an extra point for it.