Verstappen: 'That's why I was maybe a bit slower at that moment'

Verstappen satisfied with overtaking race in Miami

In front of Viaplay's cameras, the championship leader tells his story about the race in Miami. Verstappen begins, "Yes, actually [enjoyed] it. It was just a strong race. Luckily didn't get into too much trouble. It was difficult for a while in that first corner, but I didn't take too much risk."

Verstappen likes to win his races from pole position, but starting from P9 and then still taking the win must also feel good. Verstappen: "Yes. If you win, then yes." On strategy, he said: "We could have done the same as the rest, but we didn't know how that yellow tyre would hold up. If you think logically, when you're with a lot of petrol, it's hot on the track... The hard tyre is a bit more robust when you're in traffic and should last longer than the medium tyre. You then have to have the speed in free air to make metres and keep the gap the same. We were able to do that."

Verstappen took it a bit easier

It was clear after 20 minutes that it would be a battle between the Red Bull men for P1. Initially, it was still a virtual, tactical battle. Verstappen and Perez had a different strategy and were therefore battling each other in different spots on the track. The drivers were looking at the gap between them.

Verstappen: "Of course I had to make sure I could drive that long stint on that tyre. I didn't really know beforehand how aggressive I could really be. Hence, maybe I slowed down in the middle of the race."

Double Verstappen victory this weekend

Verstappen concluded by congratulating his father, Jos Verstappen. After all, it was a day with a double Verstappen victory. After all, Senior won his first rally race: "Very nice for him, we had already called each other. Very nice for him. He puts a lot of time and effort into it. It's a totally different discipline than we're used to as a family."