Verstappen pleasantly surprised by win in Qatar: 'Very proud of the team'
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- Nicole Mulder
Initially, the Qatar Grand Prix seemed to go anyone's but the way of Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing. After finishing in P8 in the Sprint and losing pole position because of the stewards' decision, the Dutchman managed to cross the finish line in P1 in Qatar.
Verstappen reacts to GP Qatar victory
"It was a very good race. Of course, already yesterday in qualifying the car was a lot better, and today that first stint was very, very fast. Lando and I were within 1.8s of each other the whole time, pushing each other and honestly, it was a lot of fun out there. This track has a lot of grip and this year the tyres were really holding on, so that was a lot of fun to be really pushing the tyre. We went really long on that first stint. After that there were a few Safety Car moments that you had to take care, but very happy," Verstappen summarised.
"It’s been a while in the dry to be this competitive, and very proud of everyone in the team to turn it around within a day. So they definitely also deserve this victory," he continued.
Verstappen also addressed his maneouvre against Lando Norris after the second safety car restart, after he slipped exiting the final corner. " On the hard tyres there’s very little grip. You just come out of the box and they’re already cold and behind the Safety Car you can’t warm them up. I tried something different out of the last corner, where I had no rear grip basically, so I just struggled for traction out of the corner," he explained.
"It got a bit spicy into Turn 1 but I think that’s great to see. And then after that we drove it to the end with good pace, so very happy to win here," the four-time world champion concluded.
This article was written in collaboration with Kada Sárközi
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