Red Bull hails Verstappen's 'very well executed' sprint win

By Red Bull's standards, they might have sounded a little underwhelmed over the team radio at the end of the Sao Paulo Sprint. But Max Verstappen and team boss Christian Horner still took great satisfaction in their latest race victory.

“It was a very well executed race today," Horner said after the chequered flag. "Max got a great start, allowing him to make that crucial pass into the first corner.

"Then it was an exercise in managing his tyres," he explained. "It’s a long stint on those soft tyres and he did well with them, enabling him to finish the race as he did."

Red Bull motorsport consultant Dr Helmet Marko let slip that it had indeed been a pretty easy outing for Verstappen on Saturday and that he'd had little trouble holding a safe margin over McLaren's Lando Norris in second.

"Already in the first corner Verstappen was ahead and after that he managed his tyres incredibly well," Marko told Sky Sports Germany. "At no point did he drive faster than he needed to.

"As soon as Lando got near the DRS gap, Verstappen managed to put half a second on top of it right away," he pointed out. "In the end he went a bit faster and therefore we are very optimistic for Sunday."

• Read also: Verstappen flies past Norris in T1 to claim Sprint win

Verstappen had started the Sprint from second place but wasted no time sweeping past Norris into turn 1, and stayed comfortably ahead for the next 24 laps.

“The start was key for us today," Verstappen acknowledged. "It was good to get the lead into turn 1 and it was important to keep the first few laps under control.

“I think the initial launch wasn't amazing, but the second part of the start was good and we got alongside [Lando]."

After that the focus for Verstappen was on protecting the tyres. "24 laps on one tyre set is very long, so it's just trying to maintain a constant lap time and I think we managed the race quite well out there today.

"Tyre management is incredibly difficult here because of the high degradation and I really had to look after them right from the beginning of the race.

"At one point of the race it looked like Lando was catching a bit, and then I had a better feeling with the car again, and I could look after the tyres a bit better, and then I could pull away and at the end.

“There is not one lap that I pushed flat out. You can’t. It’s impossible,” he said. "You can’t go flat out as it is a very long stint on the tyres, so you do need to pick your moments.

"Of course you’re not pushing like it’s qualifying. I don’t think I’ve ever pushed like it’s qualifying ever in F1," he suggested. “If everyone is pushing flat out, I would say you’d almost most probably see less overtakes.

"What we had today is tough and not the most enjoyable. You don’t feel like you’re pushing that much, but you’re still driving on the limit of the grip you’ve got and all of those things.

“It’s still a challenge for us behind the wheel," he insisted. "I think it’s exciting for the people who get it right, and people who don’t get it right."

Overall, Verstappen is making no secret of looking forward to getting back to full-length Grand prix races tomorrow and for the remaining two rounds of the 2023 season in Las Vegas and Abu Dhabi.

"We've had some successful Sprint races this year," he highlighted. "I think we learned a lot during that race, and hopefully we can do something similar tomorrow.

"Lando was also very close to me for the duration of the race, so I expect it will be an even closer result," he added. “I think tomorrow also, we have pitstops in the race, so you never know what can happen."

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