Max Verstappen has said that he is happy with his ninth-place finish in the 2018 Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix, after he avoided risk to enact a recovery drive from the back of the grid.
A heavy crash in third practice meant that the Red Bull team were unable to fix the car in time and Verstappen could not set a time in qualifying. leaving him to start the race from 20th.
In the opening practice sessions of the weekend Verstappen was showing a similar pace to team-mate Daniel Ricciardo who went on to start on pole and win the race.
Overtaking is notoriously difficult at Monaco and Verstappen’s points-finishing result showed both his wheel-to-wheel racing talent and the car’s pace around this circuit.
‘I think we maximised the result. At the end there was a bit of train from P4 to P9,’ Verstappen said. “I don’t think there was anything more we could have done from last.
‘I was enjoying myself out there. Starting last I got two places from the start which was good.’
After an incident-strewn beginning to the 2018 season Verstappen wanted a clean race to salvage his weekend.
‘I just didn’t want to go too risky and have a crash,’ Verstappen explained. ‘I cannot be in that position now.
‘I did everything with a certain margin. I knew if I had taken a bit more risk then I still wouldn’t have got past them.’
