Verstappen "amazed" after "pretty insane" F1 Austrian GP win
Max Verstappen labelled his Austrian Grand Prix victory as "pretty insane" as he admitted even he was amazed by how quick his Red Bull Formula 1 car was.
The Dutchman extended his advantage at the head of the F1 drivers’ standings with a crushing win at the Red Bull Ring, leading every lap from pole position.
After cruising home 17.9 seconds clear of Mercedes rival Valtteri Bottas, Verstappen had nothing but praise for his Red Bull team and the car it had given him.
“Incredible to be honest,” he said. “The car was on rails. I mean on every tyre set that we put on, it was really enjoyable to drive. Pretty insane.
“I'm a bit amazed myself how today went. I didn't expect it to be like this. Yeah, incredible job by everyone to deliver something like this.
“Of course, when you go into the weekend everyone sees you as the favourite but it's never easy to always deliver what we did today. So, yeah, a great effort by the whole team and also by Honda. I think the whole package, these two weeks, especially here, has been incredible.”
Verstappen’s only headache was needing to manage a safety car restart early on. But, despite leaving his getaway late, he was able to build up an instant buffer over the pursuing Lando Norris.
“I just had to be awake at the start, that I had a little bit of a gap,” he said. “I knew that if I could go fast on lap one or the restart, I could do my own race. You always have to do that first, but today it's been incredible.”
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB16B, Lando Norris, McLaren MCL35M, and Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB16B
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Verstappen’s main title rival Lewis Hamilton came home in fourth place after being slowed by car damage, with runner-up Bottas conceding that Mercedes was no match for Red Bull.
“I think as a team we got some decent points considering the gap we have to Red Bull in terms of pure pace,” said Bottas. “It's nice to be on the podium again in second place. I think we really maximised it with what we did today.”
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