Verstappen positively surprised in Belgium: 'I didn't expect that!'

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First reaction Max Verstappen after 2024 Belgian Grand Prix
28 July at 16:40
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  • Sandy van Wijngaarden

The Belgian Grand Prix was a difficult task for Max Verstappen beforehand. Indeed, due to a grid penalty, he started in 11th place. In the end, he finished in fifth place, crucially ahead of Lando Norris.

Verstappen had a very strong start in which he managed to gain three places in the first few laps. He then went for an undercut twice, which eventually earned him some spots as well. The Dutchman looks back on the race positively at F1TV.

Verstappen satisfied after Belgium

''The race itself is not too bad. It was just very difficult to pass. I stayed out of trouble luckily in the first few laps, got into that DRS train, and basically just stayed there. Then we tried to do a nice undercut, which I think worked quite well. The cars are all very similar in pace and then, it's just very difficult to move up. So I think from P11 we did a good job.''

For the drivers' championship, it was important for Verstappen to stay ahead of Norris in Belgium. Despite the Briton being almost constantly behind Verstappen in the race, the Dutchman managed to keep him behind.

''I think looking at the championship, it was a positive day for me. Of course, you want more, but with our pace, in the last few races, it's not realistic to think that we could go from P11 all the way to the front again. Those days are behind, unfortunately. We have plenty of things to analyse over the break and see if we can improve the car.''

In the upcoming summer break, Verstappen says there is still a lot of work to do on the Red Bull. Nevertheless, he is happy that several teams are competing for victories, so that the points are distributed among different race teams. ''Luckily, it's changing a little bit. It’s not that one particular team is constantly taking points away. We know that we have a bit of work to do. We want to do better. We'll see what we can do,'' Verstappen said.

At Viaplay the Dutchman spoke of being particularly surprised by the proportions in the field. Firstly, to his own surprise, he managed to keep Norris behind him. ''I personally did not expect that I could keep Lando behind me. Still positively surprised then.'' Mercedes also surprised the Dutchman. ' 'Better than expected to be honest,'' said Verstappen.

This article was written in collaboration with Sophia Crothall.