Max Verstappen scored a third consecutive podium for Red Bull Racing as he was the only driver to get anywhere near close to the pace of the mighty Mercs at the British Grand Prix. 

On his 106th start – equalling the record of his father Jos – he benefitted from Valtteri Bottas’ late-race tyre failure to take 2nd place. Red Bull took the precaution to pit Verstappen at the end of that lap in case he suffered the same fate. 

Whilst race leader Hamilton’s front left let go on the last lap, he had enough of a gap to the Dutchman to hold on. Nonetheless, it was an unexpected 2nd place for car 33 and he was happy to finish there.  

“I know everyone is asking whether we should not have pitted for the soft tyre because we could have won but could have, would have, should have. You can always ask these questions with hindsight but I don’t regret anything and I believe we made the right decision to pit for fastest lap at the end. We did the right thing and who knows if I would also have got a puncture, you just can’t predict these things as it does not happen very often in F1 these days. At the end of the day Mercedes deserved to win as they were faster than us, some people are saying Lewis was lucky but he was actually unlucky to get the puncture in the first place and so was Bottas. 

"I’m happy to finish second as it looked like third was all that was possible and again we have scored good points. I was four or five tenths off Mercedes every lap but a second faster than the cars behind, so it was a pretty lonely race. At one point I went on the radio telling my engineer to remember to stay hydrated. (laughs) Other than that I was just counting sheep! Next week will be slightly different with the tyre choice affecting the strategy and although we are realistic about the pace of the Mercedes compared to us we won’t stop pushing them like we did today.” 

On a roll 💪 That's three podiums in a row for @Max33Verstappen 🤝 #BritishGP 🇬🇧 #ChargeOn 🤘 pic.twitter.com/YoFvbMlwg5

— Aston Martin Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) August 2, 2020

Very happy finishing 2nd! A great result 💪 #KeepPushing #BritishGP 🇬🇧 pic.twitter.com/7RxlYDfw8e

— Max Verstappen (@Max33Verstappen) August 2, 2020