"We managed to keep car under control," says Red Bull F1 driver Max Verstappen
Jul 02, 2023
Styria [Austria], July 2 : In the sprint race on Saturday at the Red Bull racing ring, Max Verstappen finished in the first position and his teammate Sergio Perez finished behind him in the second position. The car of both drivers came wheel-to-wheel on several occasions. After the race, Max Verstappen said that we (Perez and Verstappen) managed to keep the car under control.
The Austrian Grand Prix Sprint race, saw the pair go wheel-to-wheel on several occasions.
Perez got the jump on pole-sitter Verstappen when the race began, but a compromised line through Turn 1 saw the Dutchman fight back at the exit, only to be sent to the right-hand side of the track and dip two wheels on the wet grass.
Having regained his composure, Verstappen made a move up the inside of Perez under braking for Turn 3, where they came close to colliding again - Verstappen managing to emerge in the lead and Perez taking to the run-off at the exit.
According to the official website of Formula 1, Max Verstappen said, "It was a little bit of a hairy moment out of Turn 1. Of course, when you get forced onto the grass it's very slippery, but we managed to keep the car under control and from there onwards we just did our race."
He added, "The start was not ideal, a bit of wheelspin, but after that, after Lap 1, once we got back in the lead, it was good. We were just managing the tyres, knowing that if it wasn't going to rain anymore, then you know 24 laps on an intermediate is quite a lot, but they were hanging in there."
As per the official website of Formula 1, Sergio Perez said, "I think Max was angry that I went into Turn 2, but I didn't see him there. I just had a very bad Turn 1, so I tried to protect, but once I realised that he was there, I opened up the door and gave the place back into Turn 2."
Perez added, "It's all fine, we just spoke about it, because of the visibility. Although we were [running] one and two, it was very bad, the visibility out there."
While concluding he said, "I think once I got Nico it was all about managing the tyre to make sure that we made it to the end, because otherwise, it would have been really easy to really miss out, especially with people boxing onto the slicks. Once I went by Nico, it was just bringing it home."
