Verstappen and Perez disagree with Hamilton: 'Just a nice balance'

Halfway through the race, the worn intermediates looked more like slicks than wet weather tyres. However, the track also became drier, so a number of drivers, including Lewis Hamilton, preferred to stay on the old tyre. Verstappen and Perez, however, came in for a new tyre and were very happy with it.

More grip for Verstappen and Perez

"I mean it’s not difficult because you’re just driving under the tyre, right? You have grip, you just decide not to use it. It was a nice feeling because if you compare to the end of the first stint, you don’t have the grip anymore and you are really hanging onto the tyre because also the rear tyres are gone, so the beginning was just all about the management. The grip is there so you actually have quite a nice balance," said Max Verstappen at the press conference.

''For me, I think they were the best laps of the race in terms of grip, in terms of balance, that I had today. The track was so grippy in these conditions. It was only when the degradation kicked in that made it very tricky to stay on the track, so I was pretty happy with the first 10 laps, let’s say. I think the inters were performing well and then after that it was quite difficult," concludes Sergio Perez.