F1 News
Verstappen: "Not our weekend" despite strong race
Max Verstappen says that his Canadian Grand Prix was “fun” but he was ultimately a bit deflated to only manage fifth, and was never in contention to challenge the Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas in front.
This fifth place is the lowest result of Verstappen’s season so far, proving how brilliantly consistent the young Dutchman has been this year, as he was hampered by an early qualifying exit.
Verstappen struggled on the medium tyre in Q2 and was forced to do a run on the softs. However, as he was on his final lap, Kevin Magnussen had his crash at the final corner and brought out the red flag, ruining Verstappen’s lap, among others.
On the race, Verstappen said: “I did a very long first stint which worked quite well to clear the traffic and once we pitted I quickly cleared the Renault’s.
“From there I pulled away and was able to focus on my own race but we were not quick enough to catch the leaders.
“It was at least fun doing a bit of overtaking and we scored good points again but I think realistically fifth was where we expected to finish.
“It was not our weekend and I would of course like more but we have to work hard now to try and close the gap at the next race.”