Max Verstappen finished 6th

We had no pace again today, similar to yesterday – we were sliding too much and we had bad degradation so it was hard to attack. I didn’t quite understand the five second penalty for the incident with Lewis, but it didn’t affect the race too much as we already lacked pace. We’ve discussed internally as a Team the matter between Checo and myself and have moved on as a Team. If he needs the help and there is a chance to help him in Abu Dhabi, then I will be there, and I will of course support him. We’re fighting for first and second in the Drivers’ Championship, so we’ll work hard to achieve that.

I am a bit surprised by our performance today. We were very slow on the medium tyre and also on the soft. I was competitive, but as soon as we switched, I couldn’t defend. I lost more positions due to the safety car and without that I think I could have finished third or fourth. We were definitely down on pace this weekend so I really hope we can go back to our usual form next weekend in Abu Dhabi. I am obviously disappointed with what happened today between Max and myself. It is something we have discussed internally, we will move on and keep working together as a Team. I am sure if I need support in Abu Dhabi, it will be different, and going forward we will always put the Team first.

I gave everything I could today and I’m happy with my performance, it’s just frustrating not to be able to fight for points. I had a strong start and was able to get up to P9, we were quite competitive on the Softs, but then on the Mediums we struggled. I fought as hard as I could, but we just did not have the pace and there wasn’t much we could do this afternoon. We’ve got one last opportunity to score points in Abu Dhabi and hopefully finish the season in eighth. It’ll be my last race for the team so it’ll be an emotional one and I hope we can finish our journey together on a high.

After the changes ahead of the race the car felt slightly better, but I still wasn’t that comfortable in it, and we didn’t have the pace today. Normally, you’re able to unlap yourself under the Safety Car, but today I was told to stay in my position, so we ended the day a whole lap behind the pack, with no opportunity to make my way forward. It’s been a difficult weekend, so we need to go away and investigate why we’ve struggled so much ahead of the final race in Abu Dhabi next week.