Verstappen gives Red Bull a home podium
Starting only 8th on the grid, Max Verstappen drove a solid race to climb onto the second step of the podium. Lacking pace, Daniel Ricciardo struggled to take 5th place after a complicated race.
The two Red Bulls finished in the points for their home Grand Prix in Austria and, to top it off, Max Verstappen achieved a new podium finish, the second of his career, after a flawless race on his part.
« It’s really a great feeling to get the second podium of my career! » Verstappen enthused after the race.
« It was a good race, the car was behaving well, the tires too. I managed to overtake a few cars at the start and I had some good battles, which was a lot of fun. Kimi [Räikkönen] was coming back quickly, but I managed to keep him behind me until the end. I was hoping for third place and I ended up second, so I was surprised to gain a position in the last lap. » he added.
On his side, Daniel Ricciardo never really managed to find the rhythm, regardless of the type of tires fitted on his Red Bull: « It’s really a beautiful day for the team. We didn’t expect to be on the podium this weekend. Of course, I would have liked to be alongside Max, but for my part, the race was disappointing. I tried to get the most out of the tires. It seemed we could have the pace, but while the others kept getting faster, we kept slowing down. For now, I just want to understand why and work on it. »
Christian Horner, the team’s sporting director, duly praised Verstappen’s podium: « Max managed to capitalize on the collision of the two Mercedes to offer us our first podium at home. It was a great Grand Prix, and we will try to capitalize on this success for the next race at Silverstone. »
