F1 News
Verstappen doesn't blame team for staying out: "Easy to say afterwards"
- Nicolás Quarles van Ufford
After losing out on consecutive race wins in the final four laps, Red Bull Racing star Max Verstappen doesn't blame his team for opting to stay out and run long on the hard compound, as the Dutchman thinks it's "easy to say afterwards" they should've stopped just like Lewis Hamilton.
When Hamilton was chasing down Verstappen in the mid-portion of the race, Mercedes suddenly called in Hamilton for a second pitstop, perhaps surprising Red Bull. Although the five-time champion emerged from the pitlane 20 seconds behind Verstappen, he had clean air as well as fresher, softer rubber.
"I think you always have to be realistic and today Mercedes were faster," Verstappen told Sky Sports F1 after the race when analysing the afternoon.
"Lewis was pushing hard and when you're in second, you can gamble a little bit more with going for a two-stop because the worst-case scenario is you stay second, and the best is you overtake me. Today, it worked out for them, but nonetheless, you could see it was hard for me to stay ahead.
"It's easy to say afterwards [that I should have pitted], but I think from our side, we did the best we could."
Despite getting stripped off what would have been a third win in four races, Verstappen is happy with the result as Red Bull carry momentum heading into the summer break.
"It was still a positive weekend for me, getting pole position and being second in the race. The fastest lap luckily means it's an extra point so overall it's been a good weekend."