Max Verstappen suggested there is some room for improvement after snatching a difficult victory during the 2024 Austrian Grand Prix Sprint race.

Despite initial difficulties in the FP1 session, the triple World Champion qualified for the Sprint race in P1. With a great launch of the line, he crucially retained his lead into turn one and a couple of opening laps.

However, he didn’t manage to create a one-second gap to Norris, which was essential at a track like Red Bull Ring, which has three consecutive DRS zones.

Consequently, he then had to defend his position into turns three and four every single lap. At one point, Lando Norris even got ahead with a dive bomb into turn three, but Verstappen returned him the favor into the next turn to retake the lead.

Speaking to the media right after the Sprint race, the 26-year-old Red Bull Racing driver described how it all looked from his point of view:

“A good first lap, I would say, but then once the DRS opens, it’s very hard to get out of it. It took a few laps, a few exciting battles as well.”

“But I think once we cleared the DRS, then I could do a bit more my own race, and then it looked a bit better.”

The triple World Champion suggested there is room for improvement, and after seeing McLaren’s pace on Saturday, he expects a challenging race on Sunday.

“You could see the two cars pushing flat out trying to make it difficult for me, we had to work for it in that race. A few things to think about and what we can do better for [Sunday] especially.”

“[Sunday] is going to be a longer race and harder on the tires. So it’s going to be quite interesting to see how that will evolve.”