Verstappen wins in Qatar: "It's been a long time since we were this competitive on a dry track"

Who would have imagined, on Friday evening, that Max Verstappen was going to win this Sunday? Not many people, except him and his team! In less than 48 hours, the Austrian team found the solution to make the RB20 perform. The Dutchman, already crowned with a fourth world title, managed to regain first place on the first lap against George Russell, the day after his penalty which deprived him of pole position.

Max Verstappen then produced a fine performance by first maintaining Lando Norris at a distance after a first stint at a hellish pace, before managing several restarts under Safety Car. Only worried during the second restart, when the Briton came alongside him, he was then able to finish his race more calmly following the heavy penalty imposed on the driver McLarenThe Dutchman thus secured his 9th victory of the year, the first in normal conditions since the Spanish Grand Prix last June!

Max Verstappen (COM)Red Bull), winner of the Qatar GP : “It was a very good race. Already [on Saturday], in qualifying, the car was much better. Today, the first stint was very, very fast. [With Norris], we were always separated by 1″8, we were pushing each other and it was really fun. This track has a lot of grip and this year, the tires held up well. We went far with this first stint and after that, of course, there were a few Safety Cars to deal with… but I am very happy. It has been a long time since we were so competitive on a dry track, I am very proud of the team, to have managed to turn the situation around in one day. They deserve this victory.”

“On the hard tyres it’s very difficult, there’s very little grip. Coming out of the pits they’re already cold, and behind the Safety Car we can’t warm them up. I tried something different coming out of the last corner, but I didn’t have a rear end so I struggled with traction. It was quite hot in the first corner, but it was nice to see. After that we rode to the finish with a good pace.”

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