Max Verstappen won the Dutch Grand Prix this past weekend to script history by equaling Sebastian Vettel’s record of nine wins in a row. However, it was not easy for the 25-year-old to accomplish the same. Red Bull made a grave error at one point that almost cost Verstappen a win in front of his home fans. The two-time champion explained the same during his post-race press conference.
Since the weather was ever-changing at Zandvoort this past weekend, many teams struggled with their strategy calls. Red Bull struggled too, as they were unsure about when to bring their drivers in to change their tires from the dry slicks to the intermediates.
Verstappen believes that his side made a mistake at the start of the race when they pitted him a lap late in comparison to his rivals. Since the Dutchman and several other drivers found themselves in such a situation, they ended up losing several positions. However, even such a setback could not stop Verstappen from scripting history.
Max Verstappen explains the mistake Red Bull made
Max Verstappen began his remarks during his post-race press conference by explaining how the race was “very hectic“. As a result, the Dutchman believes it was difficult for everyone to make the right calls.
As for Red Bull’s decision to pit a lap late, the 25-year-old said, “We decided together to stay out for one more lap. But at the end of the day, that was the wrong call, but it made the race definitely more fun because from there onwards I had to pass a few cars. I had to close the gap upfront“.
I feel extremely proud to win my home race again, in front of all of you, this makes this day and the victory even more special. 🙌
Thank you so much to everyone for coming to the track and sticking around through the bad weather to celebrate this win with us 🇳🇱👏#DutchGP pic.twitter.com/uYGFmLmMrF
— Max Verstappen (@Max33Verstappen) August 27, 2023
After stating the same, Verstappen concluded his remarks by explaining how once he got the lead back, it was not a straightforward race for him. The former Toro Rosso driver believes that the unpredictable weather kept everyone on their toes, and made the race that much more difficult to win.
Even Brazilian F1 journalist Julianne Cerasoli, on the most recent episode of the F1 Nation podcast, explained how she believes that Red Bull’s call to pit Verstappen a lap late definitely made the race harder to win. However, she believes that the Dutchman is in such fine form that nothing seems to bother him at the moment.
Red Bull corrected their initial mistake to help Verstappen win
After having made a mistake early on in the race, Red Bull made amends ensure that Max Verstappen got a win in front of his home fans at Zandvoort. Red Bull team principal Christian Horner explained how his team made sure to not repeat the same mistake again, in the post-race interview.
The 49-year-old stated that he asked Verstappen’s engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, to bring him in for a change of tires immediately at the point of the race when the rain was getting worse. Horner believes this was the right call, having made a mistake with their first decision.
Red Bull’s decision to pit Verstappen the second time paid dividends as the 25-year-old recorded some blistering laps thereafter. The two-time world champion was approximately four seconds per lap quicker than Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez and regained the lead from the Mexican in no time. From that point onwards, he never looked back and won the race by a comfortable margin of 3.7 seconds from second-placed Fernando Alonso.
