Beaten in pure performance at Sakhir by the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc last week, Max Verstappen had this time the best technical arguments and still his formidable racing instinct, Sunday in Jeddah. After an intense battle, a superb crossover with the Monegasque, the reigning world champion crossed the finish line first following the 50 laps on the program of the Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia, second round of the 2022 World Cup.
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“It was a good race, a difficult weekend but we managed to fight at the frontreacted the world champion, at the microphone of former pilot David Coulthard. We knew we were quick on the corners, quick on the straights. We had a bit of rhythm at the end of the day and we managed to pass.”
Disappointing fourth in qualifying, the Dutchman overtook the second Ferrari of Carlos Sainz to do what he likes: put pressure on Charles Leclerc (Ferrari). And, as we know, all means have been good. “The lights on Leclerc’s rear wing don’t work!”he pointed out on lap 7. It is a regulatory obligation but the new race direction has, quite logically, not moved in the face of this small reliability problem that the Scuderia did not control. “It is forbidden to touch this white line!”, he denounced, on lap 25, when he was annoyed to see the rear of the Rossa n°16. There once more, it was a question of trying to create stress in the adversary, that Eduardo Freitas, the chief of the race at the FIA, was not even recalled. Max Verstappen therefore shouted it a second time…
“Keep your head down !”
Faced with this red wall, Red Bull decided to lower the pressure so as not to ruin everything. “Leclerc sets his times in sector 1, turns 6, 7, 8 and 9”, informed his race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase. The solution therefore lay elsewhere. In the struggle to return to the DRS zone of Leclerc, shortly following halfway, “Super Max” began to lose its means. “Keep calm in the rapids, let Leclerc wear out his tyres. We can put the pressure on him later”, we assured him on the low wall. But the Batavian did as he pleased, signing the best partial time in sector 2 precisely…
It was then that he took advantage of the virtual safety car period to attack the Ferrari with well-tempered tires. On lap 42, the world champion managed to pass for the first time, but he was immediately overtaken. His mistake? He had overshot the Ferrari just before the DRS line, which gave the advantage of the open rear wing on the following straight. Lesson learned, he even crashed on the next lap in the same place to force the Monegasque to attack the main straight in the lead. Without being able to materialize.
“He once more crossed the white line (entrance to the pitlane!)”he complained. “Keep your head down !”, ordered his engineer. We might feel it, the Ferrari had become prey and the decisive attack was near. At the end of lap 46, he took the inside before the last curve to have the best acceleration. A slip of the Ferrari and the matter was settled at the DRS. “We were close in the fighthe commented. When we are less than 0.5, we can get out of the last corner better than last year and it is harder to plan the overtaking.
“What an awesome race!”
His only moment of uncertainty was the speed to adopt under the virtual safety car regime, a dilemma which will perhaps cost Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) his third place. “I was not sure what was allowed in terms of slowing down under a yellow flag, confirmed the man who is now at the head of 21 victories – all with Red Bull – since 2016.
“It was crazy, but it was an uphill battle with Charleshe said on Canal +. It was a matter of managing the tyres. Charles was very fast in the first sector, I tried to hold on without damaging my tires too much. After the virtual safety car, my temperature was better and I was able to attack. Did you see how he played it very smartly in the last corner? Even following that, we had to be at the max. It was three-four qualifying laps at the end to stay ahead of him, because he was systematically in my DRS zone. It was a good fight. I really liked that.”
“In the end, I completely launch my season todayhe told David Coulthard. Indeed, these 25 points bring him up to third place in the World Championship, 20 lengths behind Charles Leclerc and eight behind Carlos Sainz.
“What an awesome race!enthused his team manager, Chris Horner. The final laps were exciting and we had just what it took to come home with the win. Max raced patiently, he took care of his tyres. He drove brilliantly all weekend, it will give him a lot of confidence.” He is already used to it, and the battle for the title is indeed well underway because Carlos Sainz drove a notch below and Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) fell behind by only finishing tenth.
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