"Stuck" Verstappen reflects on his battle with Leclerc during the sprint

Max Verstappen has reflected on his duel with Charles Leclerc during the sprint race in Brazil. The Dutchman was also encouraged by the performance of his Red Bull car.

Why Verstappen was encouraged

Verstappen was stuck behind Leclerc for a long time but took full advantage of a few small mistakes by the Ferrari driver. "I think we had good pace, just I got stuck in the DRS train, so I had to wait for my moment to have a go at Charles. He had a few moments in the race and then he made a mistake in turn one. So then I had a good run out of turn three and I could get him," Verstappen said afterwards.

"Unfortunately a bit too late, but there was also not much else that I could do because when everyone is just in the DRS train, you can't attack. And that was it. But the pace is good. Seemed like we could at least be in that fight, which hasn't really been the case the last few races. So I think that's promising," the Dutchman added.

Verstappen limited the damage in the sprint race, which was eventually won by Norris. The gap between the two drivers in the World Championship, now stands at 45 points with four races to go.

This article has been created in collaboration with Nicole Mulder