Verstappen on timing pit stop and safety car: 'Was a bit unfortunate'

The Red Bull Racing driver was in the lead when he was brought in under a yellow flag. Decades later, the safety car came out, giving the men behind him a 'free' pit stop. Verstappen fell back to P3, although he had immediately grazed Leclerc on the restart. However, overtaking Perez as well proved to be a bridge too far.

"I think with the safety car I was a bit unlucky," said Verstappen, who then had to chase Perez."Ithen I had to push a bit to stay close to try and get into the DRS. Then the tyres start to overheat. I struggled also with the balance which wasn't consistent and I was fiddling around with the tools. Once I got that right then the last 10 laps the car felt quite good again. It was a little too late, but a lot learnt throughout the race. And, it's a good result for the team."

Verstappen is not really thinking about a world title yet, stating that he and his team mainly want to keep learning about the RB19. "We know it's a very long season. A lot of things were learned again. I mean, Baku is very different to Miami, and Miami gonna be again very different to the other tracks we go to after that. You keep learning. It cannot be always to be perfect all the time, I think there are days you learn."