Verstappen on fast Mercedes: 'Nature of the track, I think'

Max Verstappen won the Australian Grand Prix, but in the end, it was not as easy as it seemed five laps before the end. Kevin Magnussen caused a red flag, leading to another restart with two laps to go, with The Dutchman not looking forward to this restart.

Verstappen had a poor first start, losing two positions to both Mercedes drivers, but the two-time world champion was soon back in the lead. With a few laps to go, nothing seemed wrong for the Dutchman, who had a big gap to Lewis Hamilton in second. However, that all changed when Magnussen hit the wall in turn two, causing a red flag, prompting a new standing start with two laps to go.

Verstappen not happy with restart

This restart was detrimental to Verstappen, with his gap to second place suddenly completely disappearing. In addition, the Dutchman's other two starts earlier in the race were not great either, which did not bode well. But three times is the charm, this time Verstappen did have a good start.

"I had a terrible first one so I was actually not really looking forward to it," said the race winner about the last restart at the press conference. "But luckily we seem to improve it a bit afterwards. But I think it was a bit more difficult because of how cold the tyres were so you also didn't really know what you're going to get off the line." 

Verstappen on speed Mercedes

Mercedes was faster than expected this weekend. In fact, the German team was first and second after the first lap. The Red Bull driver thinks this sudden speed has to do with the track. "I think it was also the nature of the track, with the very low deg. So, I think that all made it a bit closer. The warm-up was also quite tricky. Some teams probably nailed it a bit better than others. So yeah, difficult to say. I think we need to go to a few more tracks to have a full understanding."