Max Verstappen described his risky overtaking manoeuvre on Lando Norris on the opening lap of the Dutch Grand Prix, stating that he "tried to send it".
After winning three of the last four Grands Prix on home turf, Verstappen was keen to put on a show for his fervent Orange Army at the Zandvoort Circuit.
The defending Champion already knew that victory would be next to impossible in the face of a dominant McLaren outfit, but nevertheless duked it out with the Papaya pair on the opening lap.
After a decent getaway off the line in his RB21, Verstappen found himself alongside Norris through the first corner. He then attempted a daring move into the next sequence of corners, which caused a few scares in the grandstands.
The Dutch driver held his car around the outside of Norris through Turn 1, and attempted to get his nose ahead into the entry of Turn 3.
However, this resulted in him driving over a sandy section of the racetrack, resulting in a loss of grip which saw the Red Bull driver momentarily lose control of his car.
He miraculously kept it facing in the right direction and passed Norris for second position. While he swiftly fell back behind the McLaren driver by lap nine, he regained second place after Norris retired from the race with an engine failure on lap 65 of 72.
Speaking after his home Grand Prix, Verstappen was delighted to finish on the podium in front of his fans.
He said: "It wasn't easy. I gave it everything at the start to move forward. A little moment in Turn 2.
"But after that, we just had to do our own race. Unfortunately, we didn't have the pace of the McLarens. Then we got a bit lucky with one retiring.
"But in general, to be on the podium here is a great result. So to be in second, I think it's a really, really good achievement for us," stated Verstappen.
The 27-year-old provided more details on his opportunistic overtake on Norris on the first lap of the race, claiming that he felt like he had little to lose in attempting it.
He continued: "Yeah, I tried to send it into Turn 3, but unfortunately, there was too much sand in Turn 2 from the middle of the track to the outside.
"I knew that we had the softer compounds, so I tried to make it work on that first lap," added the Dutchman.
Verstappen concluded by expressing gratitude towards his home crowd, who cheered him on throughout the Grand Prix.
He concluded: "The whole weekend has been incredible again. So much orange and support. And yes, it's always very special to drive here and of course to be on the podium here."
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