Verstappen: 'I could have fallen asleep' at Abu Dhabi GP

Max Verstappen has joked that he could have fallen asleep in his car if he had a pillow during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix yesterday, such was the lack of excitement that surrounded his particular race on the day at Yas Marina.

Verstappen started the race in fifth place and attempted to get beyond Kimi Raikkonen a few times to get into fourth, but was unable to as the Ferrari driver picked up the pace in the second half of the GP. The Dutchman remained in fifth all the way until the end, and it made for an unspectacular day for him overall, something which bored him even though it was an improvement on some disappointing practice races.

“For me that was a pretty boring race,” said Verstappen.

“If I had a pillow in the car I could have fallen asleep. I tried to follow Kimi at the start but it’s so hard at this track and I couldn’t find an opportunity to pass. As soon as you get within 1.5 seconds it is really tough to get close and make a pass.

“I was surprised at how good my pace was during the race, especially as I have struggled all weekend with the feeling of the car. Once I got caught in the blue flags and I dropped off a bit I was able to see the true pace of the car, and it was actually quite quick.

"It’s a shame we couldn’t show it and be able to fight, which also comes as bit of a surprise at this track.”

Even though Verstappen has not performed as he would have liked over the past two races in Brazil and Abu Dhabi, he has added two F1 wins to his accolades this season, making for a positive campaign overall. He believes Red Bull can kick on next year to try and challenge the likes of Mercedes and Ferrari more consistently.

“In all, it’s been a positive end to the year. In the last two races we didn’t maximise our performance but they are not strong tracks for us so we expected that.

“We will keep working hard to improve as we have done over the latter stages of this season and with some improvement from the engine side we should at least be close to the top guys next year.”