Sprint race winner Max Verstappen says Red Bull are “finally racing again” after taking his first race victory of any kind since June.
Verstappen scored his fourth sprint race win of the season, maintaining his 100% record over the year. He has now won 11 of the 16 sprint races which have been held since the format was introduced in 2021.
The Red Bull driver is a staunch critic of the format. At the same event last year Verstappen said they ‘take away the magic’ of a grand prix weekend.
Asked today why he is so strong in sprint races, Verstappen replied: “Probably because I don’t like it.”
“It’s of course always a very hectic weekend like this, to get the car in the right window,” he continued. “But luckily, the last few times that we had a sprint, I think the car was in a good window. So there’s a bit more pressure on delivering, but luckily it’s working out for us.”
The championship leader converted pole position at the Circuit of the Americas into a sprint race win, leading home Carlos Sainz Jnr by almost four seconds.
It was the first time Verstappen had taken a chequered flag first since the sprint race at the Austrian Grand Prix in late June. Verstappen says he was pleased to be able to fight for victories again after so many rounds chasing rivals ahead of him.
“It was not too bad – it feels a bit like old times,” Verstappen said. “I’m very happy with today.
“Of course, if you look at the whole race, Ferrari was also very quick. But I think for us, finally we are racing again. Normally in the race, we’re always looking back behind us, but now we could just do our own race and we had good pace.”
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2024 United States Grand Prix
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