Verstappen 2nd after Hamilton/Norris penalty call: An incredible result!

Max Verstappen secured his 133rd Formula 1 podium finish at a rather lacklustre Grand Prix debut at the Madring, finishing second as he did in Austria and Hungary; the four-time world champion fell 4.3 seconds short of winner Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) in his bid for a 72nd Grand Prix victory.

Max Verstappen put in a tenacious performance and said: “When I think of the race pace we were able to show today, we can be really satisfied with the result.”

“Lando was unlucky with the virtual safety car phase, which came at a daft time for him. Second place is an incredible result for us. Everyone could see how quickly Lando was making up ground towards the end of the race, but this circuit doesn’t favour overtaking. That worked in my favour today.”

“It wasn’t easy keeping him behind me. My secret? Driving roughly in the middle of the track! No, seriously: the hardest part of the whole race was keeping the tyres alive in the final stages.”

Verstappen clashed with Hamilton straight after the start, with the Briton demanding that Max give the position back. Verstappen did so, but Kimi Antonelli was between him and the McLaren driver, so Max lost two positions in one go.

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Max ranted over the radio: “Hamilton nearly knocked me off the track; he’d lost control of his car. He drove straight into me.”

Race control asked Red Bull Racing for Max to give up the position. Max again on the radio: “What are you on about? He drove straight into me. If I hadn’t swerved, there’d have been a crash.”

Grand Prix winner Ralf Schumacher said: “To me, that was a normal battle at the start; I don’t see any mistake on Max’s part. I don’t think that was the right decision. Where on earth was Max supposed to go? He can’t exactly vanish into thin air in that situation.”

The decision came during the virtual safety car phase (due to Stroll’s spin): RBR brought Max in straight away, Mercedes brought Antonelli in straight away, McLaren waited, and Ferrari were asleep at the wheel.

Then there was a long pit stop for Norris as well, which didn’t help matters. The world champion made up ground towards the end, but it wasn’t enough against the relentless Verstappen.

Shortly before the end, Max went straight on in a narrow section; Norris was immediately on the radio demanding a penalty – but the race stewards felt that wasn’t enough to give Verstappen another slap on the wrist.