Max Verstappen’s latest collision with Lewis Hamilton and angry radio comments were the focus of attention after his drive to fifth in last week’s Hungarian Grand Prix.
But his Red Bull team principal Christian Horner believes his driver made a more significant mistake which potentially cost him a better result. As Verstappen prepares to fight his way through from 11th on the grid in today’s Belgian Grand Prix, it’s a point Red Bull have no doubt reinforced to him.Long before Verstappen’s spectacular lap 62 tangle with the Mercedes, he made repeated attempts to overtake his rival. One of those, on lap 35, looked like it was a done deal, until Verstappen understeered wide at turn two and the Mercedes nipped back through.
For Horner, that was the pivotal moment of the race. Later, Verstappen gave the Red Bull pit wall both barrels when they failed to bring him in for his final pit stop before Hamilton, dooming him to start his final stint behind the Mercedes, which led to their collision. But Horner believes the team’s strategy would have allowed Verstappen to chase down the McLaren drivers in the final stint if he hadn’t blown his chance to pass Hamilton at half-distance.
“The second half would have come alive. The overlap we’d have had, we still had a set of mediums available to us [for the final stint], and if you look at his pace on the hard tyre, he would have closed in on the McLarens and we would have been putting them under pressure. Sometimes the margins are very fine and then we’d be talking about what a fantastic strategy it was.”
Red Bull came into the Belgian Grand Prix planning to change Verstappen’s engine, dooming him to a midfield start and a fight through the field. Given the excellent pace Red Bull have shown so far this weekend, he can’t be ruled out as a contender for victory, even if the team are publicly capping their expectations at a podium finish.
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No doubt getting past the McLarens will prove a challenge, as they have been the most consistent threat to Red Bull so far this season. But in any wheel-to-wheel fight with Lando Norris, Verstappen knows his championship rival needs points even more badly than he does, and therefore has to exercise some restraint, a calculation he used to his advantage in Austria.
There is little love lost between the pair after their bruising and controversial 2021 championship fight. Following their collision in Hungary, Hamilton said “I don’t feel there should be any hostility,” between them, adding, “but of course, from his side, there always will be.”
More significantly, Hamilton took issue with the stewards’ remarks on his collision with Verstappen. Although both drivers were cleared, they claimed Hamilton “could have done more” to prevent contact being made.
“I was really, really surprised by it,” Hamilton said on Thursday. “I was very relaxed about the situation and saying look, it’s just a racing incident, let’s just move on. But considering one car was in control and one car was not in control at the time, because obviously when all the wheels are locked you’re not in control…
“If you look at the replay, I’m very, very far – at the end of the whole move – I’m very far from the apex. So I’ve left a lot of room on the right-hand side. So I was very, very surprised by the stewards, I don’t know who typed it up, that will be a question when I speak to them at some stage.”
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Hamilton is clearly not about to do Verstappen any favours. He has already predicted his rival will “make his way through pretty quick” from his sixth-row start.
Others, however, do not think Verstappen will have it quite so easy, particularly as the DRS zone on the Kemmel straight has been shortened this year. “I think it will be tricky,” predicted Carlos Sainz Jnr, who will start four places ahead of the Red Bull.
“It’s not as easy to overtake as it used to be. At the same time, when you have his pace, everything is easier. But the McLarens were extremely strong [on Friday], so it will not be easy.”
Nonetheless, Verstappen and Hamilton’s races are likely to intersect at some point during the 44 laps of Spa-Francorchamps. When that happens, Verstappen needs to be more clinical than he was in Hungary in dealing with the driver who will surely put up the hardest fight against him.
Horner’s observation about where Verstappen really lost the Hungarian Grand Prix was therefore timely. While Verstappen vociferously demands perfection from his team, he needs to hold himself to the same standard.
The advantage he has this time is that he didn’t go into the Hungarian Grand Prix expecting to end up behind his bitterest rival. Today, he knows it’s coming.
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2024 Belgian Grand Prix
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David
28th July 2024, 11:39
Going to be a very interesting race, Max is favourite I think but certainly not a done deal by any means.
Coventry Climax
28th July 2024, 12:13
Those are your words and perceptions, @keithcollantine, not those of either Hamilton or Verstappen.
There’s an aspect missing in this whole analysis, and that’s that Verstappen was far from happy with how his car handled, right from the start of the race.
That’s also why it took him so long to get closer to rivals and most importantly, made it so hard for him to make a move stick – like with the first one on Hamilton.
Had Verstappen been more patient, the pivotal point that Horner talks about, might not have been midway at all, but quite a bit later in the race, and hunting the McLarens could well have been impossible.
Johnny
28th July 2024, 12:15
Very subtle commentary but it’s the most “admonishing” thing that RedBull have ever said about Max. Historically from a team that’s always looked to blame everyone and everything else but their number 1 driver. There’s been under the surface simmering at the team since the start of the season.
FrankT
28th July 2024, 15:53
hahaha you’re making assumptions that fits your narrative, that’s all.
Aquila_GD
28th July 2024, 12:41
Honestly, I agree with the author completely and also with Hamilton’s comments about the stewards..
What could Hamilton have done to prevent the collision the last time
Bojangles
28th July 2024, 13:00
Waiting to turn in until Max had passed…
PlosslF1 (@f1-ploss)
28th July 2024, 13:21
If dive bombing from 4-5 car lengths with no chance of making the corner becomes the norm there gonna need bigger mirrors :)
George.be
28th July 2024, 21:24
No mirrors needed if you clip the rear with your front wheel. Lewis was lucky it didn’t end his race. Max was lucky it didn’t end his. Lewis could’ve let Max go wide, and cut in behind and regained the position, but chose to steer into the RB. Lewis is old and foxy enough to know how to execute this manoeuvre with minimal risks for himself.
MadMax (@madmax)
28th July 2024, 16:10
torpedo max
CP
28th July 2024, 13:22
Ok so someone can late brake, lock up as your turning in and it’s your fault – honestly the blinkers on some people.
Jim from US (@jimfromus)
28th July 2024, 13:42
Again, Silverstone, roles reversed, VER turns in on HAM. HAM receives 10s penalty and Horner wanted a race ban. This time Red Bull wants HAM to be penalized for turning in. Utterly ridiculous.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
28th July 2024, 13:58
Max literally got a way from running over Lewis’ head at Monza, dude could have crushed his spine and paralyzed Lewis but nothing happens to Max. Max cannot get penalized for running in to people or running people off the road, its not about safety, its about the sociopathic requirement for branding and consumption/followership. The stewards are a joke, the FIA doesn’t care about safety. The best thing that can happen is Max keeps getting punted off the track for the rest of the season and loses the championship completely unfairly. Fingers crossed. People like this don’t learn until it ruins their career, and they are not perceived as invincible any more.
Just look at the last race, Lewis was literally victim blamed for not allowing Max to bully him off the racing track. The stewards are ridiculous garbage.
timber
28th July 2024, 15:55
Yeah you’re right! It is all a big conscpiracy, Verstappen is a very big meanie! hahaha
Mayrton
28th July 2024, 16:42
I do not agree with this at all. Firstly Horner never said that is where VER really lost the race, it’s a personal opinion of the author. And if the first part of this quote isn’t right, then the second part isn’t either. Reality is the team knew what the car was capable of and moreover also what it lacked. Putting Max twice behind Lewis with the pit stops was where the race was lost given the material they knew he had. Max was very right (maybe too harshly for some souls, fine) about the criticism on his team. They need to step up their game considerably vs where they are right now. Max clearly showed what his contribution is during Quali of Spa, despite having a car that had insufficient pace on race day. We know the wet exposes the quality of the drivers.
David BR (@david-br)
28th July 2024, 16:42
Have to agree with Hamilton (surprise) that the stewards saying he could have done more was weird and, as ever, the wrong FIA signal to his rival. He had zero obligation to avoid a collision with a driver for whom he’d left room but who had lost control of his car by outbraking himself. Yes, I think Lewis left the car where he wanted as a ‘statement’, accepting the consequences of a collision (which could have gone any or either way), but that’s precisely what Verstappen does. It’s a signal to Verstappen that if he wants to drive badly, he has more to lose for the season. The stewards should have recognised Hamilton’s right to do that, risking his own race too: it’s a fundamental part of the racing calculus, knowing how each driver will react. Otherwise they’ll be pushed aside every time and lunge passes will effectively work.