Verstappen: "I don't think we would have succeeded with a different strategy".

Max Verstappen had to acknowledge the superiority of Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes on Sunday. The Dutchman was on a different strategy but that wasn't why they lost the race to the reigning champions.

"What we need? A faster car. It's as simple as that," Verstappen said to Dutch paper de Telegraaf. "Then you won't get into these situations. That's what we need to focus on." Verstappen drove a good race, in which he took the lead from Hamilton at the first corner.

Different strategy probably wouldn't have helped

Verstappen was able to maintain his lead until a few laps before the end of the race. Mercedes had called Hamilton in for an extra pit stop, so he could chase Verstappen on new tyres. The tactic worked and Hamilton eventually won the race, leaving Verstappen to settle for second place for the third time in 2021.

"I tried everything, but at the bottom we were just too slow. It wasn't good enough, Mercedes clearly has more speed. I don't think we would have succeeded with a different strategy either," the Dutchman concluded. Verstappen says that a second place in 2021 is not good enough anymore.