Verstappen: “I didn’t see it coming”

Mercedes is beaten. Sunday, Max Verstappen put an end to the unchallenged domination of the star firm by starting fourth.

After overtaking from the start on Nico Hulkenberg, the pilot Red Bull made the most of his audacity in qualifying, where he decided to put on the hard tires for Q2, and therefore the start of the race. He is the only one who tried, he succeeded.

The Dutchman is almost surprised. “ I didn't see it coming. But in the first stint I saw that we were very good with the tires, we really had no problems. The question remained what would happen to Mercedes. »

The German team had big problems, tried to go as far as possible but had to stop. “ From that moment on I was able to follow my own pace, I continued to attack. We succeeded, it’s incredible to win here, everything was smooth, the strategy worked, everything went perfectly” smiles Verstappen.

The Red Bull driver is the first to bring down Mercedes this season, during the fifth grand prix. “Until now, we had no opportunity to push them. Today it was possible and I wanted to put maximum pressure on them. »

In Barcelona, ​​on a hot track complicated for tires, Verstappen will perhaps have another opportunity. “ If we have to use soft tires, we have our chance because we perform well in this configuration. » Tire management, Mercedes' only fault?