Verstappen saw opportunities quickly disappear: '' Gap was too big then ''

Max Verstappen had an exciting start to the Portuguese Grand Prix. On the first lap, things could have ended very badly for the Dutchman. He eventually managed to recover, but the Mercedes duo were too strong for the Red Bull driver.

"Yes, there was very little grip. Tried to stay out of trouble, because of the little touch with Sergio because he didn't give me enough space so took himself out. Then it rained a little and I tried to keep the car on the track. Did my own race, but the gap was already too big so we couldn't do anything," says Verstappen after the race, who also praises McLaren.

"They were very good on the hard band, so it didn't really matter if I started on the medium tyre. Then I could have kept up in the beginning, but they would have just ended up on the hard tyre. We just finished where we deserve to finsihen," the Dutchman concludes.