At COTA, Max Verstappen did what he has been doing all season long- win races. However, this time, his victory did not come quite as easily. His father Jos, thought that the win was a bit too close for his comfort, but was amazed at how good the drive was. He spoke about how the braking issues affected Verstappen’s race, as reported by multiple sources including Racing News 365.
Verstappen lost out on the pole position after his lap time got deleted due to track limit infringement in qualifying. As a result, he had to start the main race from P6. However, Jos Verstappen and most fans thought it would be very easy for him, since in the Sprint race, Verstappen was flying.
Unfortunately for the Dutchman, there were issues with the brakes on his RB19 on Sunday. Because of this, the 26-year-old struggled a lot during the race. Now, ahead of the next race in Mexico City, Verstappen’s father Jos talks about how tough winning the 50th race was for his son.
Jos Verstappen amazed at Max for brilliant COTA drive
After the outing in Austin, Verstappen’s father admitted that he thought the outing would be easier. Instead, he was constantly under threat from others, especially, Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton. In the end, that wouldn’t have mattered anyway, because Hamilton was disqualified because of technical infringements.
Still, Verstappen managed to get P1 relatively comfortably but it had his father at the edge of his seat. “I like every victory! Where does this end, huh?” he said as per Racing News 365. “You see, it all comes closer together. So we have to enjoy the moment.”
It’s incredible to win my 50th Grand Prix here today. I feel very proud to achieve this! This was a tough race, but it’s great that we were still able to win. Amazing job by everyone in the team 👏 @redbullracing pic.twitter.com/9NYUOTRBDm
— Max Verstappen (@Max33Verstappen) October 22, 2023
Verstappen went through problems with his car for sure last weekend. He was not very happy with the braking of the car and was even engaged in a small verbal battle with his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase.
Braking issues could have spoiled Verstappen’s race
In the same interview, Jos Verstappen admitted that Max was going through issues with his braking. “You heard it too, there were some problems with the brakes. They changed it on Saturday evening, but the feeling was not there with the brakes.”
Despite not feeling 100% comfortable with his car, the fact that Verstappen still won from P6 shows just how good he has been this season. With four more races left, Verstappen is the favorite to win all.
However, Red Bull have reportedly hit the ceiling with their current development package. This could open the doors for the likes of McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari to sneak in a race win in the remaining outings.
