Max Verstappen says he had to drive a defensive race despite his aggressive strategy to secure a 1-2 finish at the Canadian Grand Prix.
George Russell led from Paul’s position and was under pressure from Verstappen in the early stages of the race, but then the Dutch were in the process of being overtaken by Kimi Antonelli when he made his first pit stop. In the second pit stop phase, Verstappen was with him on the Pit Exit as well, but Verstappen moved ahead after both stops, feeling that second place was the biggest result.
“I think there are two stints that we struggled with quite a bit with the tires, and it was a very good race,” Verstappen said. “So we were doing a very aggressive strategy, but fortunately, in that last stint we were able to stick there.
“I think we drove offensive/defensive races. We attack with strategy and, of course, defend the car in the back. But it worked for us.
“The first two stints, I was struggling with the tires. Again, I had too much degradation. So we drove quite a bit of defensive race. Honestly, basically twice you were trying to pass me and we put it in the box. It worked very well for me.
“We had a very offensive strategy. I think it was the last pit stop. With the hard tyres of the second stint, I was already struggling and I was a bit worried that we would reach a competitive end.
“It’s just looking in the mirror and trying to keep that gap in place, trying to look after the tires, and even though it wasn’t the easiest race, I think we managed it well as a team.
“To be honest, I didn’t think I was actually second-hand throughout the race, so I think we optimized everything we could. So we did a good job, meaning that the car was reasonable throughout the weekend.
Verstappen still gets points from the top two in the championship, with Oscar Piastri in fourth and Randnoris retired, but Red Bull thinks it will need to upgrade the car to make McLaren outscore regularly.
“I hope I can start this kind of weekend in terms of how I feel in my car, but overall I need to perform quickly everywhere, and I think this weekend was a bit.
“But if we go to all the other tracks that are on top right now, we definitely need more performances to get closer to them. This was a good weekend for us, but we need more to be able to compete with them throughout the season.”