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Verstappen on his 50th win: 'Still rookie numbers compared to Hamilton"
Max Verstappen, despite all the problems at the United States Grand Prix, did not feel he would lose the win. It was already the 50th F1 victory for the Red Bull driver, who remains humble alongside Lewis Hamilton.
The race weekend in Austin did not exactly go smoothly for Verstappen. On Friday, Verstappen's fastest lap was taken away by track limits. On Sunday he had to start from P6 as a result and on top of that came problems with the brakes. Yet Verstappen was not exactly unsettled by this.
"No, once I was in the lead, I think the gap was okay, but with a few laps to go, there were some back markers and my tyres were not feeling that great. The hard tyre was not very good today, but I think the gap was just big enough and not too many laps left," Verstappen revealed in America.
Verstappen wants to win a lot more
Despite all the problems, Verstappen did enjoy the battle with Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton. "It was good, but I think in general, today the pace was a lot closer than maybe some other races. So I think naturally that does make it more exciting and you need to be really on top of things. But then at the same time, I was not entirely happy because I was struggling myself with the brakes. So then your confidence is not that fantastic."
With his 50th victory in Formula 1, Verstappen joins an illustrious list. Only Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Alain Prost managed to break this barrier earlier. Prost's number of victories is even within reach for Verstappen. After all, the Frenchman won 51 races in F1.
"Of course, it's a great number, still rookie numbers compared to Lewis, but for sure it's a great number. I'm very happy with it, very proud of it. Let's try to win a few more," Verstappen concluded. To catch up with Hamilton, Verstappen still has some way to go. The man with the record number of wins stands at 103 Grand Prix victories.
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