Max Verstappen admitted he ‘enjoyed’ the Monaco Grand Prix after fighting from the back to finish ninth, but was left to think what could have been.
The Dutchman crashed heavily in third practice resulting in him not taking part in qualifying so started last and Verstappen knew the race was all about damage limitation but was still able to have fun.
“Although we knew it was going to be damage limitation I still really enjoyed myself out there today as I was able to race other cars and be competitive pretty much from start to finish,” said Verstappen.
“Deep down of course I am still disappointed as we could have had a much better result if I hadn’t made the mistake in practice, but on the other hand, I made the most of the race.
“I had fun, I was passing cars and fighting every lap which is especially rare here in Monaco, normally it is just cruising during the race.”
Verstappen had a good start getting past both Haas F1 Team cars before the first corner and completed a series of overtakes on the likes of Marcus Ericsson, Lance Stroll and Brendon Hartley before getting his strategy spot on to push him into the points scoring places.
“The car handled well and we got the strategy spot on and finished in the points so I think that is a good day’s work all things considered,” he admitted.
While Verstappen was making his way back through the field, his Aston Martin Red Bull Racing team-mate Daniel Ricciardo converted pole position into the win and Verstappen was pleased for his Aussie team-mate but feels he can’t look back and think what might have been.
“I have learnt throughout my career that it is easy afterwards to say it could have been like this or that, but I always have to look at myself,” said Verstappen.
“This weekend I made a mistake but Daniel did a superb job so a massive congratulations to him on winning the race and having a very special moment.”
