Verstappen: “Had expected more from the competition!”

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Seven years ago, the then only 18-year-old Dutchman Max Verstappen won his first Grand Prix in Barcelona. Because the two Mercedes fighting cocks punched each other in the first round.

“Patience used to be the order of the day”

On May 15, 2016, Verstappen was ahead of the Ferrari duo of Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel in Spain. However, because of Mercedes, the greatest talent of the last 20 years only achieved ten successes in five seasons! “I had to be very patient then and it often took strong nerves to accept this dominance from the Silver Arrows.”

And now? The 38-time GP winner (like Vettel in the Red Bull): “It would certainly be good for the fans if I didn’t just have competition from my own camp at the front. At Red Bull we expected more from the competition! The previous duels with Lewis were something special! »

“Angry Doesn’t Bother Me”

His victory in Miami showed how strong the Dutchman is in 2023. From the 9th starting place. Niki Lauda last achieved this feat in 1984 at the French GP in Dijon on the McLaren TAG-Turbo.

The negative point of the series winner before Imola’s performance in the Ferrari lion’s den? Verstappen: “Of course the booing before and after the race is not nice. But I can live with that if I win and hold the trophy in my hands.”

A year ago he won in Imola – 16 seconds ahead of teammate Sergio Pérez.

Water alarm in Imola

Because the river at the circuit has been overflowing its banks for days and it is raining non-stop, the flooded paddock at the circuit had to be cleared on Tuesday afternoon. In addition, most of the lawn parking spaces are currently unusable.

The organizer hopes that the situation will change soon, but is not yet considering canceling the Emilia-Romagna GP.

Source : Blick