British Grand Prix, Max Verstappen finished second, but the Red Bull driver has revealed a shocking reason for not being able to secure the top spot over Lewis Hamilton.

Verstappen praised Red Bull’s strategic decision to switch to hard tyres during his final pit stop, a move that helped him secure second place behind Hamilton. Starting from fourth and quickly moving to third behind the Mercedes duo of George Russell and Hamilton, Verstappen was overtaken by Lando Norris as rain began to fall around Lap 20 at Silverstone.

Initially, Verstappen seemed destined for a fifth-place finish due to the pace of the Mercedes and McLaren cars. However, Red Bull’s early switch to intermediates allowed Verstappen to leapfrog Russell into third place. As the track dried, Red Bull opted for hard tyres while Norris and Hamilton chose softs.

Verstappen managed to overtake Norris but couldn’t catch Hamilton, who claimed his first victory in 945 days since the 2021 Saudi Arabian GP. Despite extending his championship lead over Norris, Verstappen acknowledged the struggle with pace early on.

“We just didn’t have the pace today, I was slowly dropping back when it mattered in the beginning,” Verstappen explained. “It didn’t look great, and at some point, I was thinking: ‘are we going to finish fifth or sixth?’ but we made the right calls going from slicks to the inters and also from the inters to the slicks. It was definitely the right call from the team to be on the hard tyre instead of the soft that was definitely helping me out, that is why we finished second.”

Verstappen highlighted the difficulties he faced when the rain first started: “When it started to rain for the first time, I was already dropping back, I was struggling for grip.”

Managing tyre performance was crucial for Verstappen, who decided to conserve his tyres after observing the pace of the leading cars. “I didn’t want to take too many risks and saw the guys ahead of me were really going for it, so I just tried to hang in there and not go off the track, and that was quite tricky,” he added.

As the rain intensified, it became clear that switching to intermediates was necessary. “But then it really started to come down, and then it was quite obvious that you had to go to the inter, then you had to make the tyre last as long as you could,” Verstappen said. “Then the sun came out and the track really started to dry up quickly, but I still felt quite comfortable on the inter, but at some point, you just have to gamble to go onto the slick and luckily it worked out well.”

Ultimately, Verstappen’s strategic decisions and Red Bull’s timely pit stops ensured a podium finish, even if it wasn’t the top step. The British Grand Prix showcased the importance of adaptability and strategy in ever-changing conditions.