Max Verstappen said he never thought he would be able to fight Lewis Hamilton for victory in today’s sprint race.
The pair shared the front row of the grid but Hamilton led away at the start and was never headed over the 19-lap race.Although Verstappen closed within DRS range of Hamilton at times earlier in the race, he slipped back and lost second place to Oscar Piastri.
“I saw Lewis saving [his tyres] quite nicely up front,” Verstappen told Sky. “So it was not even about trying to get by, it was just trying to keep Oscar behind me, trying to get in Lewis’s DRS to hang in there, basically.”
Verstappen did not move off-line to defend his position when Piastri got within DRS range of him on the main straight and moved to strike. He said there was no point trying to resist the McLaren because of the graining that was developing.
“We have too much deg[radation] because I think our base pace is off, so then you try to hang in there but [you] kill your tyres also.
“Then I didn’t put up a fight against Oscar on the straight, I just let him by. But then actually I think both of us started to struggle quite heavily. I think I wouldn’t have kept him behind anyway.”
George Russell gained several seconds on Verstappen towards the end of the race but wasn’t able to attack him as he came under pressure from Charles Leclerc.
“I think I also got lucky with the cars behind, they just started to fight a bit towards the end of the race,” said Verstappen. “But in general the pace was not that great, but still P3, it’s a decent result for us.”
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Axel
22nd March 2025, 10:56
If you look at the pace of Piastri after he passed Max, you’d have to say that keeping him behind might have been possible, especially considering how difficult it was for others to pass people
Dex
22nd March 2025, 12:53
I suppose finishing that “race”, considering the state of the tires and Norris’ position, became a priority over fighting for an extra point. These sprints are such a waste of time. Watching another qualy session today felt almost like a chore, after already watching one followed by a sprint race. And now we get another race tomorrow.
If this feels like a chore to me, I can only imagine how the drivers feel. And since you’re rewarded with peanuts for gaining a single position, no wonder we don’t see much passion. Only rookies actually fought for something, proving themselves to their bosses, even if there weren’t any points for (most of) them on the table.
baasbas
22nd March 2025, 20:04
@Dex
Best description.
EffWunFan (@cairnsfella)
23rd March 2025, 2:14
You don’t need to imagine. Just listen to what the drivers say. Some like it. Some don’t. What a coincidence that there is a split of opinion in both drivers and viewers. You almost think we were all human.