Max Verstappen: At least we fought for the victory.

      Max Verstappen started his title defense from second place in Melbourne. At the finish of the first race of the season, he lost less than a second to the winner Lando Norris. His teammate Liam Lawson crashed his car on a wet track in the second corner.

      Max Verstappen (2nd): "It was a difficult race, but it was fun getting closer to the finish. Lando almost lost the car at the entrance to turn six, slowed down, and thanks to this I was able to get closer, and then I was completely in the DRS zone.

      I was close, but it's very difficult to overtake on this track. It was fun in the last laps when I attacked. At least we fought to win. I am very happy that I finished and scored a lot of points. This can be considered a good start for us.

      When it started to rain and both McLaren drivers were off the track, their next actions were like a panic: "We need to get to the pits urgently." They drove in, but I stayed on the highway. On the first lap, I thought it was the right decision, but the weather continued to deteriorate on another part of the track, and I also had to enter the pits.

      Even if I had stopped a lap earlier, I would still have ended up second, so it was worth a try. It wasn't easy on slicks, but it ended fine.

      The car's speed is as I expected. We didn't have enough speed in the first lap relative to the McLaren, but I scored 18 points more than last year on this track, so I accept that result."

      The news is being updated