Verstappen took his point advantage to 138 after his Dutch Grand Prix victory.
The championship leader had won the opening race of the season, Bahrain. But in the next four races he shared the victories with teammate Sergio Perez. The Mexican driver took first place in Saudi Arabia and Baku, while Verstappen took the victory in Australia.
Evaluating this defeat in Azerbaijan, Verstappen explained that he tried the tuning options of the Red Bull RB19 car and these trials helped the team understand the 2023 package.
This process guided him through subsequent races and kicked off a nine-race-winning streak after Miami.
“I think I learned a lot from the race in Baku,” Verstappen said. I had the chance to try some different approaches with the car, which helped the team with tuning the car.”
“Of course I couldn't win in Baku, but I really tried different things with the car. So I wasn't consistent in the race, but after a while I found what worked and got a good rhythm."
"I put a little too much pressure on my tires, but I said, 'Okay, that's pretty interesting for the next races. I basically followed this approach and it worked on every track.” said.
Verstappen felt that he now had to adapt more to his driving style while racing for the title, compared to when he only had occasional victories in the early years of his Red Bull career.
Verstappen stated that this situation is largely related to the balance of risk and reward, adding that the knowledge he has about the current Red Bull package gives him more "control" over how he should deal with different situations, especially the changing conditions at Zandvoort.
The two-time World Champion said, “It was more about risk management. I'm driving completely different from the way I was driving a few years ago, when I wasn't fighting for the championship."
"But it is not a problem. So even this way, I know I have a tool that can do a lot. I think that makes me drive more controlled.” said.