Max Verstappen “gave it everything I had” to secure third place in the Belgian Grand Prix, with the Red Bull driver ruing his misfortune after the team failed to capitalise on the timing of a Virtual Safety Car.
Verstappen arrived at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps with an old specification rear wing bolted onto his car, which Red Bull were forced to use after their upgraded component caused crashes for the Dutchman in Austria and Great Britain.
But reverting to a previous design didn’t seem to hamper him as he claimed a spot on the front row alongside polesitter Kimi Antonelli, partly thanks to his team mate’s efforts to provide a tow in the final segment of Qualifying.
Verstappen used the position to momentarily take the lead before dropping back into P2, and later became the first of the frontrunners to pit for fresh tyres, narrowly missing out on a chance to save time when a short Virtual Safety Car was deployed to clear gravel from the track.
The strategy left Verstappen somewhat in no man’s land as he couldn’t keep up with the ensuing battle for victory between Antonelli and Charles Leclerc, and simultaneously wasn’t under any significant pressure from Lewis Hamilton in P4.
Asked whether he was happy with the result, the Dutchmand replied: “I think so. I tried everything I could in the race. The first stint wasn’t too bad, second stint probably a little bit more difficult but at the same time, I think Kimi and I were unlucky with the VSC as well.
“I think for us to be on the podium is very good. I gave it everything I had and I think P3 is good.”
“I hope that we have more weekends like this where it’s just a bit more straightforward to work with the car, which was a lot nicer,” he later added.
His performance formed part of a promising weekend for Red Bull as Isack Hadjar recovered in style after a grid penalty left him to start from P21. He patiently drove his way through the field and stayed out of trouble to cross the line in sixth place, adding a valuable eight championship points to his tally.
“Honestly, that was the best result we could’ve achieved today,” Hadjar reflected. “There’s not much to talk about really – it was just perfect execution and I’m very happy.
“It’s frustrating because I feel like if it wasn’t for that engine penalty, we should’ve qualified a bit higher up and then probably fought for a podium.”
