Max Verstappen felt competitive for first time this season after second-place finish

[p]The four-time Formula One champion took the chequered flag only 1.6 seconds adrift of Mercedes' ‌winner [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/russell-george/xxF56RaN/"]George Russell[/a] with the Briton's teammate [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/antonelli-andrea-kimi/ptGu0mT1/"]Kimi Antonelli[/a] 0.3 behind in a tight ‌finish at the Red Bull Ring.[/p][p]"[b]I think what was satisfying ‌is that this was the first time I felt like actually I ‌could fight for the win[/b]," [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/verstappen-max/UV3mgeXB/"]Verstappen[/a] said after standing on ‌the Austrian podium for the ninth time in his career.[/p][p]"[b]To be that close to a win, I think is a great effort from the team. They ‌have worked really hard to get these ⁠upgrades on the car here, and ‌this is the first time, I think, in the race where I ​felt really competitive[/b]."[/p][embed guid="a9d181cc-6521-4222-aec0-92884625fa17" url="https://x.com/redbullracing/status/2071293552181579941" social-type="twitter" /][p]Verstappen started fifth on the grid, after crashing in qualifying, but showed the car's pace in the ​first half of the race when he went wheel to wheel with old Ferrari rival [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hamilton-lewis/tI5Vpe1h/"]Lewis Hamilton[/a] and came off best.[/p][p]In the ⁠second half of the ​race he said "something felt off on the rear of the car" and it lost pace.[/p][p]Verstappen's previous best this season was third in Canada in May and the once-dominant driver is now 98 points adrift of ‌championship leader Antonelli after eight of 22 rounds.[/p][p]Despite previously questioning his Formula One future, unhappy with the sport's new rules and wanting a more competitive car, the Dutch driver sounded more upbeat than for a long time.[/p][p]"[b]It’s been a pretty long road to be here and actually to sit here in the top three and have a real shot at it, that is I think already very positive[/b]," he said.[/p][p]Team boss Laurent Mekies was similarly excited.[/p][embed guid="38771c2b-a7f7-49b8-9b2e-2badb9a8872a" url="https://x.com/redbullracing/status/2071252541115965846" social-type="twitter" /][p]"[b]I think ‌the most satisfying element is the pace[/b]," the Frenchman told Sky ​Sports television. "[b]For the first time this season we have the ‌pace to be very, very close to have enough to win[/b].[/p][p]"[b]We know we will need more because we know the competition will also continue to bring updates, but certainly it's very impressive that we are now within the last tenths of ⁠what is needed to be ⁠on the top step of ‌the podium[/b]."[/p][p]Verstappen's French teammate [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hadjar-isack/8SAk38Ui/"]Isack Hadjar[/a] finished sixth.[/p]