Max Verstappen believes a failed attempt to make it to the end of the Australian Grand Prix on slick tires was still a risk worth taking as he was set to finish second regardless.
A late burst of rain led to the two leading McLaren drivers slide off the track in the final sector, with Oscar Piastri stuck on the grass for nearly an entire lap. Lando Norris was able to rejoin quickly and enter the pits, but Verstappen stayed out on slicks to lead for two laps before also stopping and dropping back behind the McLaren.
“We were on the medium (tire), and you never know how that’s going to work out, but I thought it was quite a sensible call with 15, 16, or 20 laps to go when the safety car came out,” Verstappen said. “Then it started to rain. I saw them go off in front of me, kept it clean, and when I saw Oscar rejoining, I thought, ‘Well, let’s stay out,’ because it was only those three corners. The rest was still dry.
“When I continued, basically, the first two sectors were fine – it was just if I could survive the final sector. I think that lap I did was OK. If there wasn’t much more rain coming, I thought it could work. You also have to factor in that even if they caught me on an inter, they’d have to box again for slicks, if it’s not going to rain anymore. So, it was fine.
“I thought, ‘Yeah, we’ll do another lap,’ but then, unfortunately, on that lap, the first sector was still OK-ish, but then in Sector 2, it started to rain a bit too much and we had to box.
“But in hindsight, it wouldn’t have mattered. If I’d boxed with Lando, it would have been P2. If I’d boxed the next lap, it would have been P2. And the lap that I did box, I was also P2. So, we tried something else – it might have worked. In a way, it didn’t work, but we didn’t lose any position, so it’s fine.”
After pitting for intermediates, Verstappen pushed Norris all the way to the flag after another late safety car, but he says he never felt he could make a move and is still wary of the performance advantage McLaren showed earlier in the race.
“I think it’s good compared to the teams behind us. But if you look at the first stint, we were quite a bit off. As soon as the tires started to overheat, we had no chance. McLaren just took off.
“So, we still have a lot of work to do to fight for a win. But I’m happy that we are second here. It’s basically one place better than we should have been. And it’s 18 more points than I had last year at this race.”
