Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, who saw Verstappen’s team-mate Alex Albon finish eighth, was full of praise for the team’s talisman.
But he too admitted the Mercedes W11 was just too quick for the RB16 when it mattered at the Spanish Grand Prix.
“Once again Max extracted the absolute maximum from the car today and to split the Mercedes, which was the faster race car, it’s the best we could have hoped for,” said Horner.
“After making a good start, using the slipstream and getting ahead of Bottas into Turn One, Max settled into the race and on a two-stop strategy he pushed as hard as he could to keep the pressure on Lewis and stay ahead of Valtteri.”
Verstappen and his F1 rivals now have a two-week break until the 2020 campaign resumes at the Belgian Grand Prix.
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