Verstappen attacked by McLarens: 'They made it very difficult'

"It was a good first lap but once the DRS opens, it was very hard to get out of it. A few exciting battles as well but once we cleared the DRS, I could do my own race and it was better," Verstappen revealed after the sprint race.

Verstappen faster than the McLarens

''You could see they had two cars pushing flat-out trying to make it difficult for me. A few things to think about we can do better for tomorrow because it's a longer race and harder for the tyres."

Asked about the 'clipping' problems with the engine, Verstappen stated: "It's because they have the DRS, of course you are using a bit less energy naturally they spend less time on the straight catching up to me. I think once they were out, I could go back to my normal management, and then everything was fine again."