Afterwards, the Red Bull driver was sober about the situation. “Sometimes you lose, sometimes you win. Sometimes the safety car helps you, sometimes the safety car works against you.”

Leclerc (Ferrari) was of course also asked about his escape. The Monegasque was very honest in his answer. “It’s a nice surprise that I’m on the podium here. I was quite happy with the virtual safety car, my tires were pretty bad and I saw Max coming. That safety car really saved me at the end.”

Verstappen also discussed his hectic opening laps. “It was a hectic start, which was very good, but I was completely on the outside. I almost crashed over the grass. A lot was happening around me and in the end I stretched the first stint as long as possible. Once on softs we were a lot more competitive.”

Lando Norris

Who stayed out of the crowd was the glorious winner Lando Norris (McLaren), who is also the new leader in the world championship. “What a race. I could just look ahead and focus on what I had to do. It was pretty straight forward for me, exactly what I was hoping for. I had a good start and a good first lap. I think my start was better than most of the ones directly behind me.”

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