"They were still very quick in front of us" - Max Verstappen not underestimating Ferrari despite an easy win at 2022 F1 French GP

Max Verstappen picked up another win at the 2022 F1 French GP but it was certainly not a given earlier in the race. At one point, the Red Bull driver was a part of an intense battle with Charles Leclerc and was forced to pull the trigger and change tires. If it wasn't for the crash suffered by the Ferrari driver, Max Verstappen was destined for an intense battle for the win.

After the race, Max Verstappen was questioned if he felt Ferrari had made improvements in resolving the tire life issues, to which he replied:

“They probably, of course, learned quite a lot but then also, you know, people are bringing upgrades and sometimes that also helps tyre degradation. Today, even with them sliding around a bit, they were still very quick in front of us. It just shows that they have a very quick car, and yeah, from our side we know that we have to find – especially over one lap – quite a bit of performance. But you know, we’ll be working on it.’’

The reigning world champion, however, did admit that the lead enjoyed by him in the championship is probably more than what he would have expected given the parity in the performance of the two cars. He said:

“I think, like I said, it’s still, of course very important to always score points, even on a bad day, which we did in Austria. But yeah, of course the lead we have is great, but it’s probably a bit bigger than what it should have been when you look at the car performances between the two cars.’’

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Max Verstappen: It was unlucky for Charles today!

Looking back at the race, Max Verstappen admitted that he did have competitive speed from the start but while chasing Charles Leclerc, his tires overheated and as a consequence, he could not make a move on the Ferrari driver.

He also said that there was a possibility of a close battle with Charles Leclerc, but the Ferrari driver was unlucky to crash out. He said:

“We had really good pace from the start, although following around here, the tyres overheated a lot so I couldn’t really go for a move but I stayed calm and stayed close. It was really unlucky for Charles and I’m glad he’s okay, it could have been a really fun race because both cars were so quick!’’

He added:

“From there I just concentrated on my own race and looked after the tyres. The pit lane is so long here so that prevented us from having another pit stop. Today was a great day but there are plenty more races ahead of us and I just always aim for the most points possible, the fight is nowhere near over.’’

After the F1 French GP, Max Verstappen has now amassed a 63-points lead in the championship over Charles Leclerc.