Verstappen: We weren't able to get the best out of our car

The FIA mandated that a new set of Pirelli tyres couldn't be used for more than 18 laps during the race on Sunday night in Qatar after the Italian tyre manufacturer found out that the tyres were rendered unsafe by the punishing kerbs of the Lusail International Circuit.

And Verstappen claimed having the tyre strategy dictated by the FIA, meant Red Bull could not capitalized on their RB19's strength being a car kind on its tyres.

In the end, the Dutchman would not be denied a win, just 24 hours after claiming his third Formula 1 Drivers' Crown after finishing second in the Qatar Sprint Race on Saturday, but the gap to the chasing McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris was not what he would've liked.

"We had a really good race today," Verstappen said in Red Bull's post race brief. "I think what really made it for me was the first stint where we were strong and good on the tyres.

"I had a slow stop at the end so the McLarens were quite close at the chequered flag but they have been quick all weekend," he pointed out. "Of course, with the mandatory three stops, we weren't able to get the best out of our car as we are good on tyres, but we won and that's the main thing.

"My hunger for winning hasn't stopped since winning the Championship, I want to keep going and maximising the performance of the car each weekend," the Triple F1 Champion concluded.

For the second race in a row, the situation in the second Red Bull garage was a stark opposite to Verstappen's race, as Sergio Perez had an underwhelming race from the pitlane to tenth on the grid.

Red Bull gave Perez a new chassis ahead of the grand prix on Sunday after his crash in the Sprint Race rendered his older chassis unusable, hence the pitlane start.

The Mexican at some point struggled to pass the Alfa Romeo of Zhou Guanyu stuck behind the Chinese driver for several laps, while he also struggled to keep his RB19 within the track limits earning three five-second time penalties for violating track limits!

Perez said of his race: "It was a difficult afternoon, starting on the hard tyre really complicated things for us, especially with the early Safety Car. It meant we couldn't warm up the tyres and then we ended up losing positions and couldn't make progress quickly enough, and as much as we should have.

"By the time I got the temperature in the tyres we had to pit, due to the mandatory pit stops. We lost our car yesterday due to the incident in the Sprint and we had a completely new car for today. It was therefore very difficult to draw conclusions with the car we had, we had to revert on the specifications," he explained.

"I really suffered with the new track limits, they were brought in very last minute, which I don't think is right but it is the same for everyone and I should have done a better job," Perez pointed out.

"It was hard for me to judge them inside the car because I think, a little like in Austria, I am sitting a bit too low and that made things harder, I should have maybe altered that when the changes were implemented.

"Overall, we have plenty to look at and I will be in the factory this week working hard with my Team," the Red Bull driver concluded.

Perez was lucky that his rival for second place in the 2023 F1 Drivers' Championship, Lewis Hamilton, retired from the race with a first-lap crash with his teammate George Russell.

Perez still has a 30-point-advantage over the seven-time F1 Champion. Five grand prix weekends remain this season.