General
Max Verstappen: "I really tried everything I could"
- GPblog.com
Max Verstappen is happy with his second place. A second victory in a row was not possible on the circuit of Portimao, because Lewis Hamilton was simply too fast in the Mercedes. In the press conference Verstappen analyses his race, and especially the first twenty laps.
"I'm satisfied. I really tried everything I could," said Verstappen. "I had a good restart. At the normal start I didn't get away very well, so I couldn't do anything there. But in turn 1 it was a good fight with Lewis (after the restart). I managed to stay on the kerbs, so I didn't have to give the position back like in Bahrain."
Battle at the front
Verstappen was second at the time and tried to catch up with Bottas. He kept succeeding, but a serious attack failed to materialise. "From there, the three of us were together, but I couldn't get close enough to attack Bottas. In the last two corners and the straight he ran away. Lewis was very close and he caught me in Turn 1", he explains.
The eleven-time Grand Prix winner had to chase from P3 from that point on. "Lewis put pressure on Bottas, but unfortunately I couldn't stay close enough. It was close though," said Verstappen, who does regret that he never managed to get into the lead: "I don't know how many times I was within Valtteri's DRS, but it was incredible."