Verstappen achieved his 24th victory in Formula 1 in Barcelona and now he is the leader with six points over Leclerc. The Dutchman got off the Red Bull happy, although for half the race his radio comments were very different. “A race with two halves. The first 30 laps were frustrating, I was caught off guard by the spin because I didn’t feel like I was braking late. It was very difficult, it wasn’t good and I stayed behind George and Checo. Checo let me through so I could attack George, but then I ran out of DRS on the main straight and that was extremely painful, sometimes it would open halfway and sometimes not at all. I was stuck behind George for twenty laps,” he said at the FIA press conference.
Specifying about the DRS fault: “I am pressing the button, but the system does not open, we have to fix it. He was frustrated, because he couldn’t pass him without the DRS, the battle was good, out, in and out in the first three corners”. His engineers asked him to try activating DRS outside the pianos and he replied later that it didn’t change anything: “Nothing can be done, I’m not stupid. I hit fifteen times on the same straight, I tried everything, outside or inside the piano. Clearly we have a problem there with this wing.”
The Dutchman is not worried about Ferrari’s pace before Leclerc’s engine broke: “It’s early to talk about the whole race, because he (Leclerc) left at the beginning, but that had happened before. They were having a great weekend and we need to improve, especially over one lap, but it’s hard to know exactly how big the margin was. We are out of references. With all the improvements they have brought, it is clear that they have taken a step forward and it is up to us to close that gap.”.
“The good strategy was Max’s”
Sergio Pérez was on the podium for the first time at the Spanish GP and is not far behind his teammate in the World Cup standings. It’s barely 25 points, a great prize. The Mexican, however, had to give up the race position to Verstappen unceremoniously on the part of the Red Bull wall and that left him without the possibility of adding his third victory in F1 on a circuit that appreciates him, Montmeló: “It’s my first podium in Spain, which has two very good Spanish riders, but I feel third in terms of support every year, it’s incredible. Getting on the podium is good and it’s a great result for the team. We took advantage of our opportunities and I am very happy”.
“In the first ‘stint’, when I let Max pass, they told me that they would return him to me because we were going with different strategies. In the end, the three-stop strategy was the bestr. It wasn’t really unpredictable, we expected it so badly (tyre wear), there were no surprises”, he explained about the radio message from him when he let Verstappen pass: “It’s unfair, but okay”.
“The three-stop strategy was the best, so if I had gone in that direction I would have won the race. It worked for Max. We discussed it, but we didn’t know which would be the best then. They told me he would give me the position back when I first gave it to him, but then I feel like I could have passed Max and George sooner. Still, it’s a great result for the team. We will have to discuss some things internally, but I am not worried”, concluded Checo.
