Verstappen confident that Red Bull will be able to regain its form
On the back of his sensational win at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, reigning champion Max Verstappen reckoned that he is hopeful that Red Bull will be able to regain its competitiveness for the last three races of the season.
Having shown encouraging pace in Sunday's early qualifying, Max Verstappen only qualified 12th after being unable to finish his Q2 lap due to red flags. As a result of his grid drop penalty, he was demoted to P17 on the grid. The Dutch driver had a brilliant getaway, picking up a handful of places on the first lap alone. From there he displayed enormous pace, proving particularly strong and comfortable under breaking.
He managed to climb through the field, but he got stuck behind the trio of Yuki Tsunoda, Esteban Ocon and Chalres Leclerc. He stayed out under the VSC while his direct rivals pitted. Although it could have been disastrous for Verstappen, but a red flag followed soon after which meant he was able to get a free change of tyres in the pit lane.
After the race was restarted, the reigning champion found himself in second spot. Just a lap later, he overtook Alpine driver Ocon on track and disappeared up the road for a famous win, and his first Grand prix victory since June.
Pushed on to reveal how important it has been to win a race again after his four-month winless streak, Verstappen insisted that the victory in Brazil will be a moral boost for the Milton Keynes-based outfit.
"I mean, of course, that was important. I wanted to, of course, win a bit sooner. But yeah, it's been tough for us. We always kept pushing. We didn't really understand why the others were so fast in the race, especially.
"Yeah, I've been trying a lot of things to improve the car. And I mean, starting P17 this morning, didn't look like we were going to win the race again. So yeah, it's an incredible result for us. A massive boost for the team, because honestly, it's been tough.
"But it is also a big strength of the team to stay calm and just try to work on performance and try to improve our situation. And I'm confident. I'm confident for the last three races that we can fight again, and especially in the race that we will be more competitive," concluded Verstappen.
