Verstappen tried 'everything he could with the hard tyres'

He only missed four rounds Max Verstappen (Red Bull) to sign a second consecutive victory after his German success. But, beaten in her lair at Hockenheim, Mercedes reacted very well by using a formidable strategy to overcome the Dutchman’s RB15 – Honda.

Starting at the head of the race, Verstappen tried to widen the gap, but never Lewis Hamilton left the young prodigy of F1 allow yourself more than 3″ of margin. Coming to the pits later than the world champion, Verstappen had resisted the Mercedes driver's first attacks on hard tires well.

If we thought Hamilton was forced to observe Verstappen's possible victory from a distance, with concerns about brake temperatures, the Mercedes wall played the strategy perfectly by stopping the Briton to put on a set of new medium tires. And thus give No. 44 a chance to return.

Winning bet in the last five laps, even as Verstappen struggled with tires that were well past their performance window. « I tried everything I could with the hard tires to keep them alive, but unfortunately I could not, comments Verstappen.

This remains second place with the fastest lap. Overall, it was a good weekend for us. Lewis put me under very intense pressure. I appreciate. Today we didn't win, but like I say, it's a good day and a good weekend.

I think we lacked a bit of grip. We tried the one-stop strategy, because Mercedes had the opportunity to do two. And it clearly worked. »

The Dutchman will, however, be able to console himself by studying the race results and seeing the significant gap widened with Ferrari this week-end. Even more promising for the recovery at Spa?

Discover the full report and analysis of the Hungarian Grand Prix, produced by our special correspondents in Budapest, in AUTO issue 2228hebdo, available tomorrow evening in digital version and this Wednesday on newsstands.