Max Verstappen: The podium is a good result.

      Finishing third, Max Verstappen was satisfied with the results of the weekend in Spa – achieving more was difficult…

      Question: Max, before the weekend started, you mentioned that you were unsure about the car's speed in Spa. Was the result better than you expected?

      Max Verstappen: Yes, it seems so. The weekend went smoothly for us. We immediately hit the optimal settings, which helped a lot.

      In the race, I was a bit unlucky with the virtual safety car; I hoped to battle Charles for second place, but the second stint went a bit worse than I hoped. For most of that stint, the balance wasn’t what I wanted; I lost too much time in the first half, so a podium is a good result.

      Question: Tell us about the first lap, where you first overtook Kimi, and then he overtook you…

      Max Verstappen: Obviously, I used too much battery charge from the first to the second corner! I went through Eau Rouge, looked at the battery status – and thought that keeping the position until Les Combes would be difficult.

      I expected Kimi to overtake me, and then suddenly I saw a red car rapidly approaching in the mirrors – and I decided to stay on the same line; otherwise, we would have caused a massive crash there. The speed difference was just incredible.

      Question: What did this weekend teach you, and what do you expect from Hungary? How will your car perform there?

      Max Verstappen: I don’t know. It’s hard to imagine right now. I hope the weekend goes smoothly without problems. That will largely determine whether we will be competitive.

      Question: Tell us how you feel about the new rear wing. Secondly, do you think the fact that the track in Hungary is less energy-consuming will affect the race?

      Max Verstappen: That was the old wing. It behaved well, allowing me to confidently keep the car on track, which is the main thing. We were a bit more competitive, the balance improved slightly, but with the switch to harder tires, we had a tougher time.

      It’s clear that in Hungary we won’t have to save energy as much, but I don’t know if that’s good or bad. There are many corners there, and the car needs good handling when changing direction, so I don’t know how competitive we will be.