Max Verstappen found French GP joy 'very rewarding' after Red Bull risk paid off
Monday, 21 June 2021
The Dutchman's battling qualities came to the fore
A delighted Max Verstappen reflected on his "very rewarding" win at the French Grand Prix in which Red Bull's risky strategy delivered in dramatic fashion.
Championship leader Verstappen had pole position but swiftly slipped behind Lewis Hamilton when he lost his rear at Turn 2 on the opening lap.
From there, though, Red Bull provided a hugely effective rescue package, first by executing an undercut that allowed Verstappen to edge back in front despite a solid Hamilton pit stop.
The Dutchman's battling qualities came to the fore as he held off both Hamilton and Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas before Red Bull opted to take a gamble.
Verstappen went in for a second stop and faced a sizeable deficit on fresh medium tyres, albeit with time on his side.
The 23-year-old had to stay patient, but Bottas put up little fight and Hamilton was then passed on the penultimate lap to open up a 12-point gap at the top of the drivers' standings.
"Thank you so much, so good," Verstappen told his team, and he was then asked on the podium if he had enjoyed a gripping race.
"Towards the end, yes," he replied.
What. A. Race 🥇➕🥉 A hard fought victory, but very rewarding 🏆 🤘 Still a long season ahead, let’s #KeepPushing #FrenchGP 🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/e3ZbLFaNcW
— Max Verstappen (@Max33Verstappen) June 20, 2021
"In the beginning, it was super difficult out there with the wind, so one lap you had an okay balance and then the next lap you were just sliding everywhere. It was really difficult to keep the car stable.
"Once we made the first pit stop, you could clearly see on the hard tyres they were pushing me hard from behind.
"But when we made the call to do a two-stopper, luckily in the end that paid off. We had to work hard for it, but of course, it's very rewarding."
On his attempts to reel in Hamilton, Verstappen added: "It was difficult because there was quite a lot of backmarkers to go through, but luckily they all did well so we could have a good fight to the end."
And talk predictably then turned to the title picture, with seven-time champion Hamilton finally facing a fight again.
"You could see the whole race we were fighting each other, so I think it will be like this for the rest of the season," Verstappen said.
Hamilton added: "We've got to find some pace, that's for sure.
"You could see most of the time we lost today was on the straights, so we've got to definitely dig deep, try to figure out what that is – whether it's power or drag – but we've still got a good package."
