Things almost went wrong for Verstappen in Brazil: 'It became like a boat'
Red Bull Contentpool
F1 News
Max Verstappen has highlighted a "very sketchy" moment during the Brazilian Grand Prix. The Dutchman ended up winning the race from 17th place on the grid, and it wasn't plain sailing. The Dutchman described his car as "feeling like a boat".
Verstappen answered the critics with one of his best-ever performances in Formula 1. The Dutchman also surprised himself. "I don't even know where to start," he said after the race. "My emotions today have been from almost trying to destroy the garage to winning the race," Verstappen said, referring to the rollercoaster ride he experienced on Sunday. The three-time World Champion failed to get into Q3 and was frustrated by the length of time it took to get the red flag out following Lance Stroll's crash.
"Starting P17, I knew that we could have a good race," Verstappen continued. "But in qualifying I think it was quite clear that there was only one line that you could take so I knew that overtaking was going to be quite tough. But in the race we had a good start, that helped already. We had a good first lap."
Verstappen indicated that he was stuck behind a DRS train from Tsunoda for a long time. "From there on, we just picked a few drivers here and there. I got a little bit stuck behind the train of Yuki. Then we just stayed calm. It was still a very long race, actually. We made the right calls. Some pitted. The rain was coming, we stayed out which was very sketchy."
The RB20 turned into a boat in Brazil
The three-time world champion also had a tough time with the heavy rain. "Then I saw Esteban in front of me flying, like four seconds a lap faster. I was like, I'm just happy to keep the car on the track. At one point it was just red, we needed a red flag," he added.
"It was just undriveable. Even on extreme tyres it would have not been possible because of the banking of the track here, it's filling up very quickly.
It almost felt like I was driving a boat, a jet ski. I think we could have had a jet ski," Verstappen said, laughing. "You definitely have more cornering speed on a jet ski," the Dutchman concluded.
This article has been created in collaboration with Sandy van Wijngaarden
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