Verstappen on incident in Austria: 'Just keeping everyone awake for a while'

12 December 2023 at 06:00

Toby McLuskie

At first, the Austrian Grand Prix looked like an absolute show of power by Max Verstappen. The Dutchman moved around 25 seconds ahead of Charles Leclerc, who was second at the time. The fastest race lap was still out of Verstappen's hands a few laps before the end, and that didn't quite sit well with him. The Red Bull driver looks back on that moment.

The pit stop before the end of the race went perfectly. Three-time world champion Verstappen re-entered the track before Leclerc, and he secured the fastest race lap, giving Red Bull Racing one extra point. Christian Horner did not think it was a good idea to take the risk, but the man in the RB19 thought otherwise.

Verstappen comments on GP Austria

"All the points count, of course. You never know if you need it," Verstappen explained in an interview with Viaplay. "No risk no fun. I already had very little grip on the tyres, I didn't feel much like that. So I said: 'Just go in'. Keeping the pressure on, also for the mechanics. I kind of like that, just keeping everyone awake for a while," he noted.

"You never know if that one point could be important," the driver, who won 19 races in 2023, continued. "Of course we had a big lead at that time, but you never know what can happen in a season," Verstappen concluded.