F1 | 70th Anniversary GP | Max Verstappen: “Overtaking a Mercedes is really satisfying”
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen praises his team for the strategy that gave him the win at the 70th Anniversary GP and assures he will keep the Mercedes pushing hard.
A big trophy and an even bigger smile is what Max Verstappen brings home after the 70th Anniversary Formula 1 Grand Prix.
The Dutchman, fourth when the lights went out, made the Saturday’s gamble work brilliantly, managing to stop Mercedes’ dominance.
“The race showed we had the right strategy after our decision to qualify on the hard tyre and I’m pleased it paid off”, Verstappen said. “I think the length and pace of our first stint was the key to being competitive as the mediums don’t last that long, so starting on the hard was definitely the right call.”
Indeed, for the first time this year there was no Silver Arrows’ driver on the top step of the podium. Instead, thanks to the start on hard tyres and a flawless race, Max Verstappen takes victory and snatches P2 in the championship from Valtteri Bottas.
A big relief for Red Bull, that probably worried Mercedes was just too far ahead for contention. Today, a terrible tyre management from the german team proved that the W-11 at least has a weakness and Verstappen was happy to take full advantage: “When you are able to overtake and pull away from a Mercedes it is really satisfying. Of course, I hope this will happen a lot more throughout the season and we’ll keep pushing them hard even though they have been the dominant team up until now.”
But the #33 knows that without the team such a performance would have never taken place, and doesn’t even try to hide his thankfulness towards his garage: “It’s a great day and I’m very happy with the result as we did everything really well as a Team. We’ll keep pushing, we have a really good Team spirit and I love that we never give up and do take risks. We will enjoy today because everyone deserves it after all the hard work, before focusing our attention on next week’s race in Barcelona.”
Need a hand with your luggage, @Max33Verstappen? 😉 🏆#F170 🇬🇧 #F1 pic.twitter.com/x0f2S0IA72
— Formula 1 (@F1) August 9, 2020
