Max Verstappen was positive about Red Bull’s prospects going forward despite losing out on a good result following a collision with Felipe Massa during the Italian Grand Prix.
The young Dutchman shone in the wet in qualifying and, as both RB13’s looked to make up for engine grid penalties, made the best start moving up six places to eighth from 14th on the opening lap.
That would be undone not long later, however, as a late braking move on the Williams driver into the first chicane resulted in contact and a front-right puncture which saw Verstappen have to limp back to the pits.
“My race was basically finished after three laps,” he claimed. “We were always playing catch-up. We started on the Softs and then I had a puncture on that tyre, so I had to do a two-stop, [which] was a bit of a shame. So yeah, what can you do?”
After that, however, the 19-year-old would recover passing numerous cars as he claimed the final point in 10th.
“I think I still did quite a decent race, I was pretty happy with that,” he added.
The last move he would make came on Kevin Magnussen at the first chicane, but the Dane would get a good exit and challenge the Red Bull back into the Roggia chicane with the former McLaren driver accusing Max of pushing him off the track.
“To be honest I don’t really feel it was an incident and I don’t really care,” he said in response.
Looking forward, the engine changes in Italy were done to ensure a fresh unit can be used in the cars at the next three races, where the Milton Keynes team are expected to be stronger.
Asked if was optimistic about Red Bull’s chances, he said: “Daniel finished fourth, so I think the car was working really well. I was really happy even though I was playing catch-up. Hopefully, in Singapore, we can really fight for a proper podium.”
