Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen suffered a problem in the final race of the F1 Spanish Grand Prix, where he was forced off the track due to a gust and lost his position, and the DRS did not work as in qualifying.
In the end, with the support of his “really generous” teammate Sergio Perez, he won a come-from-behind victory in his first career victory, but he was forced into a “really frustrated” race in the first half of the race.
After finishing the 66-lap race at the Catalan circuit, Verstappen recalled, “The first half of the 30 laps was really frustrating.”
“I was really surprised that I was off course on Turn 4, because I didn’t slow down the brakes or enter the corner at overspeed.”
“There was a lot of gusts today. Even though I thought I was running stably, it suddenly felt like oversteer on the next lap. So maybe I was surprised. I think it wasn’t the ideal situation. “
“Thanks to George (Russell) and Czech Republic (Perez), the Czech Republic has allowed me to attack George. Maybe I’ll split the strategy as a team. I think I was doing it. “
“But as soon as I tried to set up George, DRS didn’t work on the main straight. It’s been a long time, so it was really painful.”
“Sometimes I thought I would open half way up the straight, but sometimes it wouldn’t open at all, so I was stuck behind George for nearly 20 laps. It was really hard.”
Although it was a turbulent event, the team brought back the best result with the second 1-2 finish of this season following Imola.
“It’s great to be able to finish the race in 1st and 2nd place alongside the Czech Republic. The early part of the race was tough, but in the end it was a good way to finish!”
“The battle with George was tough, especially because the DRS didn’t work, but I had to put up with it because I didn’t want to take the risk because I was competing for the top.”
“I’m not sure why the problem happened with the DRS, so I’m going to investigate it. Well, I won the final victory and I didn’t lose anything.”
“I’m in good shape and I’m proud of the team, but as you can see, there are some noticeable failures, so we need to keep working hard on this.”
“I have to do it perfectly in every aspect”
Max Verstappen on the 2nd grid won the 2022 F1 Round 6 Spanish Grand Prix final race at the Catalonia Circuit on Sunday, May 22nd. Sergio Perez followed in second place, with Red Bull finishing 1-2 for the second time this season. George Russell (Mercedes) slipped into the podium in 3rd place.
The next round of the Monaco Grand Prix, set in the Monte Carlo city course, will begin with free practice 1 on May 27th.