Red Bull driver Max Verstappen said today that he had a very good pace in the Formula 1 race in Australia, and that he is happy about his first victory in that country.
"We had a very good pace today and we won, which is of course the most important thing," Verstappen said, as reported by the BBC.
Verstappen recorded the 37th victory of his career in Australia, and the race was marked by incidents and interruptions.
The first interruption was in the ninth lap, after Alexander Albon from Williams flew off the track, while the race was interrupted for the second time three laps before the end, when Kevin Magnussen from Haas had a flat tire, which then ended up on the track.
Even after the new start, it could not pass without incidents, so the race was interrupted for the third time, and the drivers drove the last lap behind the safety vehicle after a twenty-minute break.
Verstappen started the race from pole position, but soon lost positions to Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton and George Russell.
"I had a very bad start and I was careful - I had a lot to lose and they had a lot to gain. I think the pace of the car was fast, we were waiting for the DRS to open. As for the red flags, I understand the first one , but the second one not really," added the two-time back-to-back world champion.
In the 48th lap, the Dutchman flew off the track for a moment during his convincing lead, but that did not stop him from winning.
"I did the city a favor and cut a bit more grass for them... It's great to win here, my first win at Arthur Park and I'm very happy," Verstappen said.
Second place went to Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton, who pointed out that this was his best racing weekend of the season.
"It was a crazy race. Big thanks to everyone in Australia and Melbourne. I had the best Sunday. The weather was amazing. This track and city continue to put on a great show," said the seven-time world champion.
Hamilton also referred to the resignation of his teammate, whose car caught fire.
"Really unlucky for George today, we've got to look into that. Our reliability has generally been very good," he said, adding that he still hadn't "connected" with the car.
"We keep pushing forward! Thanks to everyone at the factory. We can reduce the backlog, it will be difficult, but not impossible," he said.
Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso reached the 101st victory podium, who said that it was difficult to understand some things in the race itself.
"Today we had a rollercoaster. A lot of things that happened at the beginning and in the last half hour were difficult to understand... The first red flag helped us because George and Carlos (Sains) went to the pits, but the second one didn't help us. We had we are really lucky, the third and fourth positions for the team are an incredible week," said the 41-year-old driver, adding that after three third places he wants at least second position in the rest of the season.
In the general classification, Verstappen leads with 69 points, second is his teammate Sergio Peres with 54, and third is Alonso with 45 points.
The next race is on April 30, for the Grand Prix of Azerbaijan.
See more:
Download the app and follow the news
FOLLOW US ON
