Max Verstappen: Now anything is possible!

      Max Verstappen won the Qatar Grand Prix, claiming his seventh victory of the season. The result moved him up to second place in the drivers' standings and kept his title hopes alive ahead of the season finale in Abu Dhabi.

      Yuki Tsunoda’s tenth place left Red Bull Racing with a chance to finish second in the Constructors’ Championship.

      Max Verstappen (1st): “Incredible race for us. The team made the right call to pit when the safety car came out. It was a smart move. I’m very happy to take the win. We remain in the title fight until the very end. Just unbelievable!

      We had a very strong race in a weekend that was not easy for us, but we won, and that’s the most important thing.

      When I saw that McLaren didn’t come into the pits, I thought they were up to something interesting! I knew we had a gap, but we still had to look after the tyres. Wear was very high, but fortunately everything worked out.

      Now anything is possible! Let’s see how the season ends. I’m not overly worried about it.

      I didn’t expect to win today. In terms of pure pace, we weren’t at McLaren’s level, but we made the right decision to pit during the safety car period. Essentially, that gave me a ‘free’ pit stop and decided my result in the race. There’s no doubt that this decision is why I won.

      It’s another example of a rival’s mistake. I don’t think McLaren were trying to create perfectly equal conditions for their drivers today. They simply missed the opportunity to pit. In pure pace they were faster, but today we proved that anything is possible.”

      Yuki Tsunoda (10th): “I did everything I could to gain as many positions as possible. The safety car meant that almost everyone had the same strategy, so you had to overtake on track, and that’s very difficult here because of the fast corners and only one DRS zone. It was tough, but I managed.

      This weekend I was quite close to Max in terms of pure speed, so we need to keep going in the same spirit. We need to make one more step in Abu Dhabi, and I will do everything I can.”