Max Verstappen predicts Austrian Grand Prix ‘battle’ between Ferrari and Red Bull will be ‘closely matched’
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Published 09/07/2022 at 15:59 GMT
Max Verstappen extended his lead over Ferrari's Charles Leclerc to 44 points, and Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez to 38 points. Despite his success in Saturday's Sprint he believes that Sunday's Austrian Grand Prix will be a battle as the chasing pack behind him are closely matched, and he expects a tough day.
Max Verstappen
Image credit: Getty Images
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen was pleased with his Austrian Grand Prix Sprint race victory on Saturday but expected a difficult race on Sunday.
The world champion led from the front as both Ferraris, driven by Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, focused on the battle for second and third rather than the Sprint leader.
That gave Verstappen eight points and stretched his lead in the drivers’ championship over Leclerc to 44 points and to 38 points over Sergio Perez, though Ferrari claimed more points for the constructors’ competition.
Speaking to Sky Sports after his win, he said. "It was a decent race. We had a good start in the beginning and after that we were very closely matched. It was good, it was like a sprint should go, quite flat out.
"In the first few laps [the Ferraris] were also fighting a little bit, so I had a bit of a gap.
"After that I think we were quite similar in pace. I think tomorrow it's going to be a quite interesting battle again.
"The race is going to be a lot longer and tricky on tyres.
"The car is good. There's a few things to fine tune but overall we have been really competitive again this weekend."
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