Max Verstappen obtained his 18th victory of the Formula 1 season in Las Vegas, equaling Sebastian Vettel’s record of 53 triumphs. However, it was far from an easy task for the Red Bull driver, who even had to overcome a penalty.
In a quick interview with the official broadcast, the Dutchman spoke about a challenging race, in which he faced many challenges: ‘It was a complicated victory. I tried to attack at the start, but I think we both braked too late, and then we lost grip, we went wide a bit, so the stewards penalized me for that. Of course, that put us at a disadvantage; I had to overtake some cars and, of course, the safety car again. A lot was happening in the race at that time. Towards the end, we could push hard, I had to overtake some cars to get into the fight with them, but you could clearly see that the DRS was very powerful – even if you stayed in front, if the car behind was in the DRS, they still had a chance to compete. I think we had a good race here today, so it was definitely a lot of fun’.
Regarding the collision he had with George Russell (Mercedes), Verstappen said that his front wing suffered some damage, but it was not repaired during the pit stop: ‘I think we were glad we didn’t touch it because it already seemed very damaged. Of course, the structure was fine, but let’s say it’s never ideal. There’s always a bit more understeer in the car. But fortunately, we still managed to win the race’.
When asked if the Las Vegas track proved to be a success, the #1 driver replied: ‘It was a lot of fun. Like I said, also with the DRS, it helped the competition a lot here. I also think that with the low degradation on the asphalt, it was really possible to push the tires, which I think was good. As I said, it was a lot of fun’.
