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Honda happy with Verstappen's performance: 'So important for championship'
- GPblog.com
Honda are happy with a third consecutive podium for Max Verstappen. The engine manufacturer saw a victory come very close, despite the fact that the 23-year old Dutchman did not have a very good starting position due to starting the race from the second row of the grid.
"To be honest, after we missed the front row yesterday, we still felt we had a chance to win today and we came very close, with Max finishing second, one place higher than his starting place and Sergio finishing where he started," Toyoharu Tanabe reflected in his employer Honda's review.
Honda happy with second place to Verstappen
A second Honda victory was not on the cards at the Portimao circuit, but the Japanese know that the season lasts no less than 23 Grands Prix and that it is of great importance to keep grabbing at points every weekend, even if victory might not be possible. "It is very encouraging that in the three races so far we have been on the podium every time, because it is this consistency that is so important for the championship," he explains.
At AlphaTauri things were a lot more difficult in Portugal. Whereas Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda were very competitive in Bahrain and Imola (although they didn't score many points for various reasons) it was a lot harder this weekend. Gasly did get one point by finishing tenth. For Tsunoda there was no more than a disappointing fifteenth place.