Verstappen keeps an eye on Mercedes: 'Hope we can play something strategic'

Today Max Verstappen will start the Grand Prix of Russia from second place. The Dutchman managed to put his car between the two Mercedes drivers, so he has a good chance of a podium today. Max Verstappen himself is still doing well, despite the two breakaway races in Italy.

“It’s always great to be in this starting position. Especially after the last two races it’s important to get a good results,” explains Verstappen to the official channels of Formula 1. The Dutchman had a great qualifying. “Sometimes you have that, when you’re struggling the whole qualifying and you make a few changes in Q3 and suddenly it all comes together."

Strategy important

“Most of the qualifying you have a corner where you think you could go faster, but I think that lap was pretty smooth. It felt good out there,” Verstappen says. “We just need to try and get a good start, the tow in turn 2 is massive so I hope we can get a bit of an advantage there and we’ll see what happens into turn 2.”

“If nothing happens there, I need to focus on my own race and try to be as close as possible to Mercedes. They are very fast, but I hope that we can keep up with them and that we can then do something with strategy," concludes Verstappen.