The words of Max Verstappen at the end of the race they reflect the concerns about race pace shown by Carlos Sainz since weekend just spent in Canada. The victory in Montreal, the sixth seasonal, out of 9 races dispute, puts Max in a position quite privileged. But if in the first stage of the championship had given for doomed the world championship with a gap of 46 points from Leclerc, now that he is 49 points above he is starting to see the ghosts. The performance of Red Bull e Ferrari are similar and although the Dutchman's leadership is firm, and the Maranello team's problems more frequent, Max admits that he struggled to keep Sainz at bay especially in the closing laps.
Ferrari had more
With Leclerc away for mounting new components, and Perez out of the game, the only other "tip" of the two top teams was Carlos Sainz. What makes you think Red Bulland breathe a sigh of relief Ferrari however, it is the great step delle Rosse, not far from the performance of their opponents. What worried Max was above all the pressure of the pilot Spanish home Ferrari, pasted in Dutch, waiting for an error that never came.
"In general, the race was difficult - Said Verstappen in the post race– I was hoping the car had more wheelbase, But the Ferrari it seemed very strong. Clearly I could only compare myself to Carlos, but it was tough to match his lap times. Even after the last stop I was coming back under with new tires, but I wasn't sure it would be enough to get him back in the end. Then she came out there SafetyCar, but I told myself that this would not be so advantageous either. I had already done a few laps pushing a lot on the tires and he was behind me with fresh tyres. Both scenarios weren't ideal, but I had to bring the race home”.
Escape to the checkered flag
La Safety at 20 laps from the end he reopened the game, approached the group and called Verstappen to maximum concentration, and to the coldness gained in the past season. Furthermore, precisely in the final stages, the most agitated ones, a radio problem prevented him from communicating with the team, who couldn't hear him, although he could hear them. “In the closing laps I pushed hard but at the same time I could not neither allow me to commit a errorso it wasn't that easy – explained the Dutchman. “However, I succeeded. Today they had more pace than us. There are lessons to be examined as to why this happened on a low grip track. In one race we seem to be the strongest, in the next they seem to be the strongest. We are two teams with very similar values.”
A Silverstone the Austrian team should bring others updates important. We'll see if the Ferrari will react accordingly and what direction will the championship take over the course of next 4 races.
