Verstappen on angry radio messages: "Thought they weren't listening to me."

General

16 August 2020 at 16:33
Last update 16 August 2020 at 17:17

Max Verstappen can look back on the Grand Prix of Spain with satisfaction. The Dutchman managed to take second place, increasing his lead over Valtteri Bottas, although the race didn't go without a hitch.

"When the lights went out my start was good, but after that I got a little wheel spin. That was a bit less, but in the end I was just right that Valtteri couldn't go to the left. In general we did everything right there", the Dutchman says in front of the camera of Ziggo Sport.

At the start of the race Verstappen was still just behind the race leader. "Lewis Hamilton was just saving his tyres. That's what I was doing, but I couldn't do too much, because that's where the Racing Point started. Valtteri then caught up with him and you can't go back down. After that you just saw, when he started to accelerate to drive his normal race, you just can't keep up with that."

Angry Verstappen on the radio

Halfway through Verstappen was also clearly frustrated over the radio. "I've been running for three or four laps shouting that my tyres are gone and I understand, I'm not stupid, that you pit wrong. But that doesn't matter, we're so much faster, with new tyres you can overtake them in no time. I was afraid Valtteri would go in behind me and make that undercut. So yeah, I figured they weren't listening to me. I felt like I was two laps late, because I lost a lot of time. Then I drove my own race, Lewis was way too fast. Valtteri couldn't really attack me, so that all went fine."

In two weeks the Formula 1 will go to Belgium. How does Verstappen see his chances there? "In Spa we're going to see it. If they are so dominant, that's not going to change in two weeks. I am very realistic. Last week we won, very nice, but don't go shouting that you are going for the World Championship. That's fine with me. Then we'll go to Spa and then we'll try again. I don't expect a victory, but that way we can get nice points", concludes the Dutchman.