"I didn't understand why it was so bad" - Max Verstappen complains of a poor start and tire degradation at the 2022 F1 Imola GP sprint

Max Verstappen was intrigued by his poor start to the Sprint race ahead of the Imola GP. Despite winning the event, the Dutchman complained of tire degradation through a majority of the 21 laps.

Speaking post-Sprint, Verstappen moaned about his race start, saying:

“I was just upset with my start because I didn’t understand why it was so bad. I just had a lot of wheel-spin. Once the safety car period was over and we actually started pushing, the pace was very similar. It was only one tenth or half a tenth here and there.”

The Dutchman revealed he barely had any pace after a poor start to the race. While he lost his lead to Charles Leclerc, it wasn’t until the closing laps of the race that he was able to retake the lead.

Describing the rest of his sprint race, Max Verstappen said:

“But at one point we had the tire that started to kick in and we seemed to be a bit better on our tires. So I could close the gap down again. With these cars it’s definitely better to follow. But it’s still very hard to get within a second. Because with the tyre deg(radation) during this race, soon as you start to be within a second you still start to slide a bit more. So it took a bit of time to actually get a good run.”

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Max Verstappen had another respectful duel with Charles Leclerc in the sprint

Max Verstappen believes he and Charles Leclerc left each other enough room as the former made his winning move. The duo have come out of the last four race weekends praising each other's racecraft in wheel-to-wheel battles. The Red Bull driver expects the same level of mutual respect to carry on through the rest of the season.

Speaking about his winning move on Leclerc, the reigning world champion said:

“We had a good move into Turn 2, we gave each other enough space. It’s been like that already of course for the whole season so far. So I didn’t expect anything else.”

The Red Bull champion explained that his duels with the Ferrari driver don’t have any on-track clashes because both have raced each other since their karting years, making it easier for them to anticipate each other's attacking and defensive tactics. Meanwhile, Leclerc also admitted that although the two have raced hard against each other on the track, they have been fair, and he has grown to like that style of dueling.