Verstappen reveals Belgian GP fear in F1 title race

A relieved Max Verstappen has detailed the positives from a Belgian Grand Prix he feared he would be "calculating losses" from in the F1 standings. 

Verstappen entered the Spa race 76 points ahead of Lando Norris in the drivers', and started 11th after a grid penalty with Norris in fourth. 

The McLaren driver suffered a poor opening lap and spent the majority of the race in traffic, as Verstappen used strategy to undercut Norris and finish in fifth place, ahead of the Briton in sixth. 

It meant Verstappen heads into the summer break having extended his championship lead to 78 points, having 275 to Norris's 197 having taken a third fifth-place finish in the last four races.

"The balance of the car was too bad in the first few laps, but I ran in a lot of traffic which didn't help," Verstappen reflected to media including RacingNews365.

"We were just not faster than the cars around us, and just got stuck in that DRS train, but as a team, I think we maximised the performance. 

"Starting P11, I always knew it was going to be a damage limitation race, but looking at the championship, it was still a positive day. 

"I extended my lead, when I could have so easily been calculating the losses, so from that side, it is a positive day.

"It is better to gain than lose points, and today could have gone either way as Norris was very fast behind me. 

"At the same time, I was also hunting in front of me, and we had two mediums and a hard, but I think today, [an extra] hard would have helped.

"George won the race on a one-stop, but I don't think we had the tyre wear or life to do that, so there are a few things to analyse, but as a team, we did a good job."

Verstappen's Belgian GP

Four races without a victory is Verstappen's longest drought since the Emilia Romagna-Abu Dhabi Grands Prix in 2020, as he detailed the "aggressive" strategy Red Bull deployed. 

"We definitely did the right thing with the strategy to try and be a bit aggressive initially to try and get ahead of a few cars and make my race a little bit better," he said.

"But then we got stuck behind other cars.

"We had to take the engine penalty which is not in my control, so it was just trying to do the best I can, so hopefully with no penalties at Zandvoort, I can have a normal race weekend. 

"If you start in the top five, your race normally looks a bit different, but of course, I know that looking at our pure race performance, we have to do a little better."