Max Verstappen and Laurent Mekies

Verstappen did not expect to repeat of 'unrealistic' Sprint success at Spa

18:54, 27 Jul

byEstéban den Toom

Max Verstappen was stuck behind Charles Leclerc for the entire Belgian Grand Prix. The Monegasque driver defended well and eventually earned his spot on the podium. Here's what Verstappen had to say his the battle with Leclerc.

"On the inters, we were a bit faster eventually also because of the setup that we had on the car. It was just very tough to pass. I mean, at one time I was really close going into Eau Rouge but you lose so much downforce when you are behind the car because it's really unstable. So you couldn't really keep it on the road," Verstappen began about chasing the Ferrari on the first stint in the Ardennes to F1 TV after the race.

Verstappen on the battle on slicks

"To be honest, every lap I just felt like Charles was actually pulling away a little bit. Then I think he had one big mistake where he lost me in one, one and a half seconds. So that's why it looked felt that I was in that fight. Of course, I always tried to get into the fight but today, probably because of the rear wing that we chose, because I mean we barely did any wet laps at the end, which in general I think is a shame, because I think we could have started way sooner."

"That's not ideal but I think our biggest problem is still how we keep our tyre alive during the race. We were just not strong enough at all," the defending world champion continued.

On Saturday, Verstappen won the sprint race, but according to the Red Bull driver, but he could not repeat that today, explaining P3 behind the two McLarens would have been the possible maximum result.

"It's of course not where I want to be, but we are trying. We're trying to be better. Yesterday, of course, was a positive result for us, but it was not a realistic result, because we are way slower. But today I tried. All in all, of course, with the decision making and then also the set-up we chose with the wing didn't help," he added.