Verstappen claims Red Bull had exceeded his expectations at Spa
Max Verstappen believes Red Bull delivered a better-than-expected performance at the Belgian Grand Prix, with the Dutchman satisfied to finish third after a race in which he felt a Virtual Safety Car period denied him the chance to challenge Charles Leclerc for second place.
Starting from the front of the field at Spa-Francorchamps, Verstappen crossed the finish line in third at the circuit in the country of his birth, securing another podium despite arriving at the weekend uncertain about Red Bull's competitiveness.
Reflecting on the race, Verstappen admitted the RB22 had exceeded his expectations.
"Yeah, probably," he said when asked whether the car had been quicker than anticipated. "I think overall the weekend for us was quite straightforward. The car was straight away in a decent window, so I think that just helps a lot."
However, Verstappen felt the timing of the Virtual Safety Car worked against him: "To be honest, today we got a little bit unlucky with the VSC, and I could have potentially fought with Charles, but the second stint was just a little bit worse than I hoped for."
The four-time world champion explained that an imbalance in the car during the second stint prevented him from maintaining the pace needed to attack Leclerc. Despite missing out on second place, Verstappen was pleased to leave Spa with a podium finish.
"I guess the balance was not where I wanted it to be for a long time during that stint, so I lost too much time in the first half of it. But for us to be on the podium here has been a good result."
Verstappen was also asked about the dramatic opening lap, when race winner Andrea Kimi Antonelli surged past him with a significant speed advantage on the run towards Les Combes.
The Red Bull driver jokingly blamed an unusually high level of energy deployment: "Clearly, too much deployment from Turn 1 to Turn 2!"
He revealed he immediately realised he would be vulnerable on the Kemmel Straight. Verstappen expected Antonelli to overtake but was still surprised by the Mercedes driver's closing speed.
"Then I went through Eau Rouge, looked at my battery status and thought, 'Well, that's going to be a difficult run to Les Combes. I expected Kimi to come by, and then I looked in my mirror and just saw a red rocket coming."
Rather than move to defend, Verstappen chose to hold his line to avoid a potentially dangerous incident.
"I was like, 'Oh, I'll just hold my line because if I move here, we're going to have an airplane shunt.' So, it was pretty incredible, the differences."
Looking ahead to next weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix, Verstappen refused to make any predictions about Red Bull's prospects. Instead, the Dutchman hopes for a clean, uncomplicated weekend, believing that will be key to understanding Red Bull's true level of competitiveness.
"I don't know. It's impossible to know at the moment," he admitted. "I just hope for a straightforward weekend. That will help a lot in terms of whether we are competitive or not."
