Verstappen surprised himself with lightning start: 'Did a really good job'

Max Verstappen started the Emilia Grand Prix from third place. On a wet Imola, there were all sorts of dangers lurking, but Verstappen kept his cool and took the lead at the start and never relinquished it.

"It was very challenging, especially in the beginning," is his first reaction afterwards. "It was very difficult to stay on the track, it was really very slippery. To then choose the right moment to go to slicks is never easy. I think we handled everything well. I only had a moment at the restart."

Indeed, Verstappen almost slipped on the restart after the red flag, but was able to correct just in time so it didn't cost him any places. "I had a little moment when I got on the gas while warming up. Luckily we didn't spin."

The start of the race fortunately went a lot better. "I surprised myself with that. Last year we had some trouble at the start, but we worked very hard to improve that. You could already see that in Bahrain, but in these difficult conditions we did completely well," Verstappen said.