Verstappen reflects on 2019 season so far: "Better than expected"

Looking back to the first 16 races of his 2019 season, Aston Martin Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen has said the first half of the season went "better than expected", with the Dutchman still competing for second place in the drivers' standings.

Verstappen was on fire on the back end of the first half of the season, winning in both Austria and Germany and getting close to getting a third win in Hungary. He did get his maiden pole position at the Hungaroring, but Lewis Hamilton overtook the 22-year-old in the final laps of the race for the lead.

Still, a good yield of points so far this season for Max, who admits he's exceeded his own expectations.

"I think the first part of the season went better than expected with those two wins," he told Verstappen.nl.

"In the second half of the season, you'd expect us to get even better, but that hasn't really happened yet. The last few races haven't been as expected, but the start of the season was positive."

Speaking on his individual performance, Verstappen was simply happy that no mechanical issues have ruined any races for him in 2019, as was the case in previous years when Red Bull were teamed up with Renault.

"Something I'm happy with personally is that we've gotten the maximum in terms of points this season compared to last. I dropped a lot of points in the first six races back then. That went a lot better this year."