Verstappen looks back on race Bahrain: 'Didn't expect speed'

Max Verstappen did not expect to be so far in front during the Bahrain GP. The Dutchman was shocked by the long-runs of opponents on the grid, he told at the press conference after the race.

Verstappen drove over half a second away from the cars behind him at times in one lap, something he completely did not expect: "I don't know how they approached their long runs with fuel loads and whatever. But from our side, it was definitely not expected to be half a second ahead, for sure not. It was probably a bit better than I thought today," said the Dutchman, who won his seventh race in a row.

In contrast, despite the relief he experienced after finishing the race, he feels the car can still make strides, especially during qualifying: ''But also at the same time, you could see in qualifying, it was very tight. There are things that we can do better. That's what we'll focus on for the coming races."

And now on to next week, the race in Jeddah. How is Verstappen looking forward to next weekend: "That's a completely different track layout. A lot more high-speed corners. The tarmac, of course, completely different to what it is here. So, less degradation. Naturally, probably that will help other teams as well, compared to us. It seems like for us it's better to have these kind of tracks. So, I don't expect that to be easy," said Verstappen, who expects to face a tough race.