Max Verstappen makes Charles Leclerc admission in Brazil GP cooldown room

Max Verstappen said he “just got stuck” behind Charles Leclerc on his way to victory at Interlagos on Sunday, joking he was “actually quite decent” at defending against him.

Verstappen made multiple brave moves down the inside at the Senna S on Sunday as he worked his way through the field, but Leclerc forced the reigning World Champion to the outside and kept him at bay before the Red Bull driver eventually found his way past.

Max Verstappen ‘got stuck’ behind Charles Leclerc en route to Brazilian GP win

Verstappen started 17th but was up to 11th at the end of the first lap, sweeping around the outside of multiple cars at Curva do Sol and picking his way through traffic, before diving down the inside of Lewis Hamilton at the end of the first lap to move up to 10th.

He kept moving up the field in the first part of the race, Turn 1 proving his favoured passing spot on the track, but it was Ferrari driver Leclerc that appeared to give him the toughest battle of the day.

Sat next to fellow podium finishers Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly in the cooldown room before the podium ceremony at Interlagos, replays of the race were being shown and when Leclerc’s defence against Verstappen came up on screen, the Red Bull driver admitted this was one part of the afternoon where he struggled to get past a rival.

“Here I just got stuck, because Charles is actually quite decent!” Verstappen joked.

It was a difficult afternoon in wet conditions for the drivers, with the reigning World Champion making the most of the weather to set a succession of fastest laps once he got past Ocon – also at Turn 1 – to eventually win by 19 seconds on Sunday.

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When asked what it is that helps him succeed in the rain, he believes it’s a case of the drivers who grew up driving in those conditions who were predisposed to doing well at the weekend.

“About the wet, I just said to Esteban, it’s like back in the day in go-karting, you know, the guys that were good in the wet, they’re good nowadays also in Formula 1,” Verstappen said in the post-race press conference.

“I was racing them as well in go-karting and they were also good in the wet, you know, so it definitely is a thing that you pick up when you’re younger, I think when you practice a lot.

“I think where we come from, it definitely rains a bit more than maybe in some other places.

“You go out there, you practice, you get more comfortable, and you are definitely tuning your skills to be better – and I think you carry that, and of course, you evolve and become even better, and you use that to your advantage.”

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