Verstappen feels like a winner at Spa: 'Better that than losing points'

In a weekend where Max Verstappen was initially well behind his closest rival Lando Norris, the Red Bull Racing Dutchman still managed to increase his margin in the world championship. With - eventually - a fourth-place finish and Norris behind him in fifth place, Verstappen felt something like a winner after the Belgian Grand Prix.

"Of course, it was better to gain points than lose points," Verstappen told the media including GPblog. At the time, it was unknown that George Russell would lose his Grand Prix victory, so Verstappen finished fourth instead of fifth. "And today could have been either way [gaining or losing] because he [Norris] was very fast behind me. But at the same time, I was also hunting in front of me," said Verstappen, who in hindsight would have preferred to be able to do two stints on hard tyres.

In the end, it was Mercedes that won the race, although it only became clear hours after the finishing flag that the victory belonged to Lewis Hamilton. The fact that it was always different drivers taking points off each other means that Verstappen has a comfortable lead in the championship at the start of the summer break. "It's fantastic, yes," Verstappen said of having a different winner each time. "I prefer to have it like that than one team suddenly dominating every single race."