Verstappen beats everyone else: "Had to work hard for it".
F1 News
- GPblog.com
Max Verstappen has won the Dutch Grand Prix, just like last year. The Red Bull Racing-driver had to work for it, but after 72 laps he crossed the finish line first. Afterwards Verstappen tells that it was not as easy as last week at Spa-Francorchamps.
"It was not an easy race," Verstappen told David Coulthard prior to the podium ceremony. "We had to deal with a virtual safety car and safety car. We had to make the right decisions. We weren't sure if it would work out, but when we went back to softs it showed that we had good speed today."
Verstappen past Hamilton on track
The Dutchman had a comfortable margin on Lewis Hamilton with around 15 laps to go, but Valtteri Bottas' stoppage and subsequent safety car made things a little trickier. Verstappen made a pit stop and fell back behind the unstoppable Hamilton.
"Before that safety car I thought we could drive him home on hard tyres, even though we were a bit slower [than Hamilton]. Then that safety car came and I didn't think we would make it [the win] if we didn't stop. We went to the softs, at the restart had more top speed and from there the balance was again very good," said the Dutchman.
"It's always special to win here. I had to work hard for it, it's incredible. Thank you all for coming, I am proud to be Dutch," he concluded.