Verstappen: “With this car you can only overtake in a straight line”

A few days ago, Pirelli revealed its figures for the 2017 season in F1. A striking statistic, a number of overtakings significantly down compared to the 2016 campaign, with 435 maneuvers this year compared to 866 over the previous twelve months.

Max Verstappen then showed himself to be the most skillful in the exercise with 78 overtakes, when Daniel Ricciardo, his teammate at Red Bull, offered a maximum of 43 this season.

The Dutchman believes that his car 2017 thus offered him fewer possibilities, highlighting as the best moment his overtaking of Kimi Räikkönen in Austin, despite the penalty received.

« Of course, at first your first reaction is something like: “Why? It was a nice move. », comments the Dutchman on his website. But when you look at the rules, it wasn't right. Nothing was as it should be this weekend.

The drivers left the track without being penalized. But you always have to focus on the positives: the race was great and everyone enjoyed the excitement until the last lap.

This year I haven't had many overtakes. HASWith this car you are only able to overtake on straights. Which is really not satisfactory compared to last year. »

Verstappen, winner in Malaysia and Mexico, admits on the other hand that this 2017 season, marked by seven retirements, allowed him to progress on a personal level. “As a person, I have certainly grown, due to the difficult times I have faced.

With the problems and the withdrawals, it was a complicated year, but I learned from it all. » The Dutchman also admitted in an interview on the Red Bull website that his worst weekend was in Baku, Azerbaijan.

The son of Jos had nevertheless started well with the best time in FP1, before going off the track in FP2, then retiring from the race after an engine problem.