Verstappen after winning: 'Took a while for Hamilton to get into his rhythm'.

Max Verstappen remains very sober after winning his home race. The Dutchman crossed the line first after an exciting battle with Lewis Hamilton.

Hamilton kept the pressure on

"Did 72 laps," jokes Verstappen when Ziggo Sport asks what he did. "Yes, it was accelerating the whole race because Lewis kept the pressure on. Traffic wasn't easy either, because if you got close you immediately lost a lot of time. In the end it was enough."

"I think it's because Lewis didn't do long runs. I think it took him a while to get into his rhythm. Then you saw that it was very small differences and that remained the whole race," continued the Dutchman.

Focus is on the championship

"The focus was forward, watching your tyres carefully. You want to keep the three-second lead, so that if they do an undercut you stay in front. That wasn't always easy due to traffic," Verstappen revealed.

"It wasn't imaginable because there wasn't a race yet. Five or six years ago it wasn't there either. I didn't see this coming then either. That there is now and that you then win the race... Of course, that is unbelievable. As long as we win the championship, that's the most important thing," concludes Verstappen.