Verstappen pleased with 'decent' second-place finish in Melbourne

World champion Max Verstappen described his second-place finish at the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday as "a decent starting point" for the season, while acknowledging that Red Bull still has improvements to make.

The Dutch driver, who aims to secure his fifth consecutive drivers' championship to equal Michael Schumacher's record, was fortunate to remain competitive in Melbourne. An unusual mistake on lap 18, while he was in second place, caused him to fall behind the McLarens of eventual winner Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

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However, a series of incidents on a rainy day led to the frequent deployment of the safety car, allowing him to rejoin the competition, ultimately finishing less than a second behind the leader.

"It was a difficult race but at the end it was fun," he said. "I got close but it's very hard to pass around here. "But it was fun those last laps, pushing at least when you are fighting for the win. I'm just very happy to bring it home, score good points, and this is a decent starting point for us."

Verstappen complained of grip issues during practice, but the early teething problems appear to have been sorted out. Asked if the car had performed better than anticipated, Verstappen said: "It is where I expected to be. "You could see in that first stint that we were lacking a little bit of pace compared to the McLaren, but it's still 18 points more than I had here last year, so I take that."

He was the sole Red Bull driver to complete the race alongside his new teammate, Liam Lawson, who took over for the dismissed Sergio Perez, while Lawson's race ended in a crash on lap 46 of the 57-lap event.

SportsLigue