Verstappen: We should have started an hour earlier.

      Max Verstappen’s car was set up for a wet track, but the Spa race officials decided to delay the start until the asphalt was almost completely dry. This decision did not please the reigning world champion, and after finishing fourth, he criticized the officials.

      His teammate Yuki Tsunoda had a chance to score points but switched from intermediates to slick tires one lap later than most of his rivals and fell out of the top ten.

      Max Verstappen (4th): "We should have started an hour earlier. It's a pity that such a decision was made. The [race officials] acted too cautiously. After Silverstone, we asked them to be a bit more cautious because there was too much water on the track then, but today, in my opinion, they were too cautious in waiting.

      Today could have been a classic rainy race. We need to decide — either we race in the rain or we say we will race on dry asphalt and wait for everything to dry. But we don't want that scenario, right? We can have great rainy races like we did at Silverstone.

      Considering the rear wing settings, the decision by the officials affected my race. I did everything I could. We know that work on the car needs to continue. Unfortunately, our problems won't be solved quickly or easily."

      Yuki Tsunoda (13th): "There was a misunderstanding between me and the team. I asked to switch to slicks, and they told me to wait. At that moment, I drove past the pit lane entrance. I had to do another lap on intermediates, and in those conditions, that was costly for me. I lost five positions and got stuck behind other cars for the rest of the race. That ruined my race.

      I tried everything I could to overtake, but unfortunately, I lacked maximum straight-line speed. I kept trying to pass, but the tires stopped gripping the track. A very disappointing race."