Brazil GP | Max Verstappen ‘’an incredible feeling to win today’’
Max Verstappen took win number three of 2019 following a great duel with Lewis Hamilton for most of the race. Alex Albon looked set for a maiden podium until Hamilton spun him with two laps to go.
Max Verstappen was pushed hard by Lewis Hamilton throughout the race but he managed to overtake the Brit at two crucial stages in the race. The Dutchman went on to take a well-deserved win. It’s the eighth win of his career already and his third of 2019. He now sits 3rd in the Drivers’ Championship with a race to go.
Max Verstappen – P1
“It’s an incredible feeling right now and to win today was a huge Team effort. It was a crazy race with a lot of action and fighting but luckily we always had the pace to counter back and overtake Mercedes in every scenario. It wasn’t easy out there but the Team made all the right calls, especially at the end to pit for the soft tyres during the Safety Car which gave us the win today. As a Team you always try and make everything perfect, I focus on my job and the Team also try to do a perfect job in the pits and on the strategy and clearly today it worked out pretty perfectly. It’s a great victory, after last year of course, but more for the way the race unfolded and how we all had to work together. Today and the whole weekend the car and Honda power unit have been working really well and we have made a step so thank you to everyone for that. It is of course a massive shame that Alex could not be on the podium with me as it would have been an even better result for the Team but it’s great for Pierre to be up here and for Toro Rosso and Honda.”
Unbelievable! Thrilled to have won 💪 We had to be on top of our game and keep pushing the whole race. Great team work by @redbullracing and @HondaRacingF1 👊🏻 #KeepPushing #BrazilGP 🇧🇷 pic.twitter.com/k1KrcVsDqY
— Max Verstappen (@Max33Verstappen) November 17, 2019
Red Bull Redemption 💪
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 17, 2019
Max charged hard to take career win number 8⃣ in Brazil!#BrazilGP 🇧🇷 #F1 pic.twitter.com/uzn7gd00Tp
Alex Albon looked set for a maiden podium finish after avoiding most of the chaos and ran 2nd behind his stablemate, but the rookie got tagged by Lewis Hamilton on the penultimate lap and dropped to the rear of the field. It was very disappointing for the Thai as he finished 14th.
Alex Albon – P14
“Of course I’m frustrated but I’m not angry, I’m just upset. I wanted that podium and we deserved it as it was on merit. At the Safety Car restart we had some fun and I enjoyed battling with the Ferraris, the overtake felt good! Obviously Lewis had good grip once he pitted and I think he would’ve got me eventually into Turn 1, but I thought worst case scenario we had P3. I had a good gap to Lewis and I wasn’t worrying about him. I went into the corner deep just to cover him so he didn’t get any ideas, and then there’s a blind spot and obviously we made contact. Of course he didn’t do it on purpose, it’s just one of those things and today wasn’t meant to be. It’s done now and we’ll focus on the positives before the next race. Congratulations also to Max, he drove really well and deserved the win.”
A first podium was in sight for Alex Albon, until this 😱
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 17, 2019
Lewis Hamilton received a post-race penalty, dropping him from third to seventh#BrazilGP 🇧🇷 #F1 pic.twitter.com/s3tkcHVL7C
