Verstappen: Race pace win-worthy at Spa with higher start

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Max Verstappen reckoned he had maximized his performance in Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix but felt he could have been a contender for a race win had he started his race higher up the order.

Starting from P11 due to a grid penalty for exceeding the permitted number of ICE elements, Verstappen quickly made his way through the field.

A well-executed undercut on McLaren’s Lando Norris during the Red Bull driver’s first pit stop proved crucial in advancing further and allowing the Dutchman to cross the checkered flag fifth, hot on the heels of the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc.

However, Verstappen was later elevated to fourth as a result of George Russell's post-race disqualification for racing an underweight car.

Despite the strong performance, Verstappen admitted that traffic and tyre management had weighed on his progress.

“We were just not faster than the cars around us, and then you just get stuck in that DRS train,” he said.

“As a team, we maximised the performance today. Naturally, if you start P1 with the pace that we had, I think you're fighting for the win, regardless.

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“But starting P11, I knew that it was always going to be a damage-limitation race.

“Of course, looking at the championship it was still a positive day – I extended my lead, where it could have also easily been calculating losses. So, from that side of course, it's a positive day.”

©RedBull

Verstappen suggested that a different tyre allocation could have yielded a better result, with Red Bull opting for two sets of mediums and one set of hards compared to the rival strategies.

“I think today an [extra] hard tyre would have helped,” he said.

“Of course, George won the race on a one-stop, but I don't think we had the tyre wear or tyre life to do that anyway. So yeah, also there’s a few things to analyse.

“But as a team today we did a good job. We definitely did the right thing with the strategy to try and be a bit aggressive initially to try and get ahead of a few [rivals] and it made my race a little bit better.

“But then too many cars where we got stuck with.”

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Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.