Max Verstappen said that he was “disappointed” with his result in Russia after the first lap incident, although ended up 10th after post race penalties.
Verstappen was unfortunate to be affected by the Force India of Nico Hulkenberg, who spun in front of him. He was able to carry on in the race unlike Hulkenberg and Marcus Ericsson, who both retired because of the crash.
“It certainly wasn’t the best of race starts, as I got clipped because the cars in front of me crashed and from then on it was a very difficult race. I had a lot of damage on the car, especially at the rear, and it wasn’t behaving as it should’ve been.
Verstappen came in during the safety car period due to his damaged left rear tyre. His front wing was also replaced in the pit stop and was able to drive out without going a lap down.
“It was very difficult for me to continue, but we tried to, hoping we could get back into the points, even though in the end it wasn’t possible.”
After the interview, it was announced that McLaren’s Fernando Alonso had received a five-second penalty for exceeding track limits, which raised Verstappen into 10th place, the last point scoring position.
