Verstappen explains lack of pace during Melbourne race

Max Verstappen has explained his lack of pace during the Australian Grand Prix and inability to pass first Kevin Magnussen and then Fernando Alonso on something breaking off the car in the early phases of the Grand Prix. Verstappen started in fourth place but finished in only sixth place after bad luck throughout the race.

The Dutchman lost an initial place at the start to Magnussen and had a spin early on in the race sending him further down the field, caused by the element that broke on his car. He also explained that he couldn't overtake Fernando Alonso despite his car advantage over the McLaren because of the damage he had sustained.

Verstappen said this on his race: "After a decent first getaway, a bit unlucky at Turn 1 and got a bit caught out and lost a position, suddenly I had a lot of issues with the car, balance problems, we found out after four or five laps something broke off the car, and all the time in the middle of the corner was losing a lot of grip and at one point I got caught out at Turn 1 and spun.

"It’s not ideal but luckily with the 360 I didn’t lose too many positions. After that you are in the hunt but you can’t overtake on this track so it’s a bit of a shame. With the circumstances we were in, the damage we had, we still scored some points. As soon as we were in clean air the pace was good. We don’t need to worry, we just need to focus on getting a clean qualifying and then in the race everything should sort itself out.”

Sam Gale