Max Verstappen accepted second place as a “good result on a difficult day” at the Austrian Grand Prix.
Despite winning the Sprint comfortably on Saturday, the reigning champion had no real answer to the pace of race winner Charles Leclerc at the Red Bull Ring.
“It was a tricky day,” Verstappen admitted in parc ferme. “Immediately it seemed like we were struggling quite a bit with the tyres, and basically that continued on every single compound.
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“Too much degradation to really attack Charles especially, but nevertheless, second place is still a good result for us on a difficult day.”
The result also put a slight dampener on the weekend for the Orange Army who had turned out in their usual droves in Spielberg.
“It is great to see so many fans coming here to Austria,” Verstappen noted. “Unfortunately I couldn’t give them a win today but second place is still a good result.”
It was really nice to drive in this atmosphere. Thank you Orange Army, it’s really great seeing so many of you coming to the Red Bull Ring this weekend! ?#AustrianGP pic.twitter.com/gaZYMg2IXh
— Max Verstappen (@Max33Verstappen) July 10, 2022
With Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez retiring after Lap 1 contact with George Russell, Max actually leaves Austria with a bigger lead in the championship than he arrived.
However, that 38-point gap is now over Leclerc, who scored the most points over the Sprint weekend.
“If you look at the whole race we were lacking pace,” Verstappen said. “It looked like Carlos [Sainz] was also going to overtake me but then he encountered engine trouble.
“To only lose five points in the championship is not too bad on a bad day,” he concluded.