21 May 2024 , 08:13
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Max Verstappen was left "broken" after narrowly beating Lando Norris to win the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
Off the back of his first Formula 1 victory in Miami earlier this month, Norris came close to picking up a second as he spent the final 10 laps of the race attempting to usurp Verstappen. However, the Dutchman ultimately prevailed and leaves him 48 points clear in his pursuit of a fourth world title.
Reflecting on the race, Verstappen revealed the gruelling Imola track had taken a major toll on him. "I'm just broken from the bumps, to be honest. My back, everything is hurting," Verstappen said.
"It's not so much from the physical side of things, but just it was so bumpy out there. Already after like 20 laps, I could really feel my back. So I'm just looking forward to laying in bed. Maybe take some painkillers. And a massage, I don't know…"
Verstappen also bemoaned his switch to Hard tyres, claiming he felt like he was "driving on ice" for the final 15 laps of the race as Norris closed the gap. "I just couldn't really get the tyres to work," he added.
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"It just felt like they were not operating in the right temperature window. And that just got worse and worse. So the last 15 laps for me was really like driving on ice. They were not responding anymore. So that's something that we have to analyse.
"As soon as I swapped to the Hard tyres, it was definitely… I mean, maybe not the first five to 10 laps, but after that I was like, I'm not sure I can bring this to the end because the tyres just fell out of the operating window.
Verstappen survived a late challenge from Lando Norris to win the race (Getty Images)"It was just like driving on ice really snappy and just you can feel when the tyres are not gripping up anymore like Turn 7, I almost ended up in the grandstand for my feeling, at some point. Just very difficult, really weird lines that I had to take.
"Those last 10 laps you know I was really trying to survive with the tyres and then suddenly Lando really picked up pace. So, yeah, I could see him, of course, catch up.
"I was not sure if I could keep him behind, but I was just trying to do the best I could, pushing as hard as I could with the grip that I had. And, yeah, luckily, it was just enough laps."
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