So that is definitely the positive of this weekend."
He acknowledged that strategic decisions regarding the timing of his final pit stop relative to Russell may have altered his chances of securing a home victory for Red Bull.
"It's easy now to look back at it," said Verstappen.
"I do think I had the deg over George but I also knew that it was going to be a very long stint to the end.
But we'll look at it again."
He expanded on the performance deficit experienced during the extended stints, indicating that prolonged track time compromised his late-race momentum.
"I personally felt like the laps that I stayed out, I probably lost a little bit too much compared to what I gained back of those extra laps on new tyres.
But it's easy to say now," said Verstappen.
Title Hopes Depend on Improvements
Currently trailing championship leader Antonelli by 98 points with 14 rounds remaining, Verstappen noted that closing the gap demands significant internal improvements.
"There are more races left than last year, but it's a very big gap," said Verstappen.
He emphasized that the organization must resolve several hidden procedural and operational deficiencies before they can realistically fight for the world title.
"We had very good pace but I think to fight for a title we need to be more 'all-round'.
I think we still have too many issues, from the starts to just procedural issues in the background, that even I think you guys don't know about, but I know about," said Verstappen.
