Max Verstappen said he “just got stuck” behind Charles
Leclerc on his way to victory at Interlagos on Sunday, joking he was “actually
quite decent” at defending against him.
Verstappen made
multiple brave moves down the inside at the Senna S on Sunday as he worked his
way through the field, but Leclerc forced the reigning World Champion to the
outside and kept him at bay before the Red Bull driver eventually found his way
past.
Max Verstappen ‘got stuck’ behind Charles Leclerc en
route to Brazilian GP win
Verstappen started 17th but was up to 11th at the end of
the first lap, sweeping around the outside of multiple cars at Curva do Sol and
picking his way through traffic, before diving down the inside of Lewis
Hamilton at the end of the first lap to move up to 10th.
He kept moving up the field in the first part of the
race, Turn 1 proving his favoured passing spot on the track, but it was Ferrari
driver Leclerc that appeared to give him the toughest battle of the day.
Sat next to fellow podium finishers Esteban Ocon and
Pierre Gasly in the cooldown room before the podium ceremony at Interlagos,
replays of the race were being shown and when Leclerc’s defence against
Verstappen came up on screen, the Red Bull driver admitted this was one part of
the afternoon where he struggled to get past a rival.
“Here I just got stuck, because Charles is actually quite
decent!” Verstappen joked.
It was a difficult afternoon in wet conditions for the
drivers, with the reigning World Champion making the most of the weather to set
a succession of fastest laps once he got past Ocon – also at Turn 1 – to
eventually win by 19 seconds on Sunday.
When asked what it is that helps him succeed in the rain, he
believes it’s a case of the drivers who grew up driving in those conditions who
were predisposed to doing well at the weekend.
“About the wet, I just said to Esteban, it’s like back in
the day in go-karting, you know, the guys that were good in the wet, they’re
good nowadays also in Formula 1,” Verstappen said in the post-race press
conference.
“I was racing them as well in go-karting and they were also good in the wet, you know, so it definitely is a thing that you pick up when you’re younger, I think when you practice a lot.
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