It all came down to the start for Max Verstappen and Red Bull

Elected man of the day by internet users, Max Verstappen was able to climb on his sixth podium of the season, with a new second place. The Dutchman was very satisfied to have made another very good start, which propelled him to the front from the first corner: « We knew the start would be decisive and we got a very good one today, which allowed me to get into my own rhythm. I’m satisfied with my starts. That’s two in a row. »

Nevertheless, he quickly realized that second place was the best he could hope for today, as Nico Rosberg was in control at the front of the race: « In the race, we had a good pace, but I think Nico was cruising. When I accelerated, Nico could do just as well, and when I slowed down, he slowed down too. He was in total control. »

On the other hand, he had to be wary at the end of the race of Lewis Hamilton’s comeback. The Briton was catching up with him lap after lap, to the point of attempting an attack in the final chicane. Once again, this maneuver is open to discussion, to the extent that Mercedes decides to file a complaint against the Red Bull driver.

Yet, once again, the 19-year-old driver sees nothing to criticize in his defense: « *Lewis was obviously a bit faster towards the end and I knew he was going to catch up with me. The gap was closing with each lap. In the last chicane, I saw him coming back in my mirrors. So I defended, which allowed me to keep my second place.* »

Similarly, Daniel Ricciardo also believes that everything was decided at the start but in the wrong way for him. In reality, a first stone had already been placed in the Australian’s garden with Kimi Räikkönen’s gear change penalty, as it put him back on the dirty side of the track. With the rain that fell overnight, it could only handicap him a bit more: *Kimi’s penalty was a bit of a bad thing for us because it put us on the wet side of the grid and that compromised the start.*

Things did not improve with Lewis Hamilton’s poor start, which once again handicapped him: « I don’t think I made a bad start but Lewis struggled to get off the line. I had to go around him on the wet, and that made me lose a place to Sergio. Seb made a good exit from turn 14 and had no trouble overtaking me on the straight. He easily caught up with Perez. That decided my first stint. »

Under these conditions, he could not hope for much more than a sixth-place finish. This left him 101 points behind Nico Rosberg, effectively ending his last slim chances of winning the title this season.