'We stay in the fight 'til the end' – Verstappen surprised by McLaren calls in Qatar

Red Bull's Max Verstappen admits he was surprised by McLaren’s calls in the Qatar Grand Prix as he took victory, ensuring the drivers championship will be decided in Abu Dhabi.

McLaren was the only team not to bring its two drivers into the pits under a safety car on lap seven of the race in Qatar, with the timing meaning all those who did come in could make it to the end on just one more stop – due to the Pirelli-mandated 25-lap maximum stint length. With Verstappen coming in from second place, he was then the lead car on that strategy and took a comfortable victory ahead of Oscar Piastri.

“This was an incredible race for us,” Verstappen said. “We made the right call there as a team to box under that safety car, and that was smart. Super happy to win here. We stay in the fight ‘til the end.

“Start was decent. I got one spot, and then from there, I was just looking after the tires a bit. Then the safety car came out basically at the right lap, so we opted to box, and I guess a lot of people behind me had the same idea. The team did a very good job there. Stayed out of trouble also with the pit lane – it was quite a busy pit lane – and from there onwards, I knew that we probably did the right thing.

“I also knew that the two McLarens needed a lot of pace to overcome that kind of pit stop. When the safety car went away, initially they pulled away quite a bit, but for me, it was just making sure that these two stint lengths were on the best possible pace from the first step until the end. I think we managed that well. Just trying to do my own pace and look after the tires, and it was enough until the flag.”

Entering the pits from ahead of Lando Norris during the early safety car period, Verstappen says he realized he was in the box seat as soon as he returned to the track.

“I was like, ‘That’s an interesting move,'" he said. "I knew that then we had a bit of a gap, but still you need to keep the tires alive for 25 laps as well. The wear is very high around here, but luckily it all worked out.

“When they called me in, I had to look and remember that it was going into lap seven. So I was like, ‘Okay, now we can go to the end.' I was a bit surprised once I did the whole pit stop because when they call you in, you focus on the box and making sure you're not in trouble with releasing and whatever. So when I came out of the pit, I was like, ‘Okay, I think this is a very good opportunity now for us to win the race.'

“I thought at that moment that there was a big chance of winning it … I don’t think about losing. That’s not in my head. I think about how to win.”