Verstappen had to hold back: 'Drove four seconds off normal pace'

Asked if he visited the toilet immediately after the race, Verstappen was clear: "Yes, I did immediately. It was an incredibly boring race for me of course. And when the red flag came the strategy was also immediately killed," said Verstappen. Who otherwise drove a fairly consistent race, but failed to find his way to the front. George Russell was pretty much in his way: "Yes, we drove very defensively to the end. Knowing that the medium tyres are more fragile than the hard tyres. I wasn't going to overtake him anyway."

One lap of gas towards the pit stop

"We also really saved tyres until the pit stop," said Verstappen. He continues: "I drove quietly, really very quietly. I was about four seconds off the normal lap times. So I knew when Lewis [Hamilton, ed.] went in, I had to keep pushing as hard as I could. We still had a bit of traffic, hence the middle sector wasn't optimal. But yeah, good enough. Good pit stop, and then we could go out again."

Verstappen's lead narrowed

Leclerc's victory means the difference in the drivers' standings is down to 31 points. Verstappen sits on 169 points, Charles Leclerc on 138. Just behind is Lando Norris on 113. Still a relatively safe distance, but it does seem to be more exciting in the battle for the championship this year than it was last year.