All the praise that has deservedly rained down to Max Verstappen since his debut in Formula 1 were overshadowed by a controversial maneuver this Sunday at the Jeddah circuit, in Saudi Arabia, where he lost his nerves, the solo head of the table and can than the World Cup. The Red Bull rider starred in a showcase that further heated the outcome of the event. Ignited by the miscalculation he made on Saturday in qualifying – he gave Lewis Hamilton a pole that was his at a turn at the end – the Dutchman went into a spiral of uncontrol that led him to perform a series of too dangerous maneuvers , and with them to compromise the victory and also the integrity of the pilots.
In a grand prix impossible to forget on the fast-paced Jeddah circuit, Verstappen made it clear that he still needs to grow and learn how to defuse those outbursts that occasionally erupt, without being able to control them. The worst of all was the braking on lap 38, with 12 remaining for the end of the race in Saudi Arabia, after receiving the instruction to return the lead to Lewis Hamilton, who could not avoid him and rammed him slightly from behind. The stewards – who summoned the two drivers to testify – investigated the images and telemetry of the maneuver at the end of the race, even though they already imposed a five-second penalty on Verstappen for over-braking at the first corner of the traced, in an attempt to prevent his rival from overtaking him (lap 37). Finally they punished him with 10 more seconds, so his position on the table did not change.
Verstappen put his car in third gear in a stage that is tackled in eighth, despite the excuses he tried to offer later. “I wanted to let him pass and that’s why I slowed down. Lewis didn’t want to come in and we touched. I don’t understand what happened ”, Verstappen, who had already put the stewards in trouble before, was justified by braking passes in which he almost took his only opponent in the test and in the World Cup. Special mention deserves the intervention of the commissioners of the International Automobile Federation (FIA), who came to market with the positions that one and the other should occupy in the second of the three starts of a test that led to a frenzied runner-up.
Almost a decade after two different teams played each other for the championship at the last stop on the calendar, Mercedes and Red Bull star in one of the most explosive battles in the history of Formula One, partly due to the size of their two main soloists, two unique riders, one of those specials that appear very from time to time and that stand out from the rest, who are also very good. Hamilton, 36, is already seen by most of the fans as the best ever, a consideration validated by a brilliant record, which has accumulated seven world champion crowns, more than 100 victories (103) and many others. pole position (102). In Abu Dhabi, this coming Sunday, Hamilton will look for his eighth crown and to place himself on the altar of the altars, above the myth, of the German Michael Schumacher. On the other side is Verstappen, 24 years old, a beast that lives permanently caged, with a pure talent beyond any logic, almost as much as his level of irreverence and, on specific days like this, also obfuscated.
When two phenomena of this magnitude meet, the result is a blessing for the fans, who have been wanting to march for a long time. If the loot at stake is nothing less than the crown and the season is nearing the end, that’s when shows like this Sunday take place. As if the voltage weren’t high enough, the Jeddah circuit, an unforgiving mousetrap, turns the pulse into a veritable roller coaster that this time fell on Hamilton’s side. The current champion drew on the experience that his 20 years in the competition give him to find the calm that catapulted him towards his eighth victory of the course. Verstappen’s second place causes both of them to arrive with the same points at the last appointment, next Sunday in Abu Dhabi, where whoever finishes ahead will win one of the most brutal brawls in remembrance. “I’ve been running for a long time, but this was one of the most demanding. I tried to be tough but also sensible. My baggage kept me on track, being clean, “summed up the winner, in a podium ceremony in which tension was cut with a plastic knife.
The third place on the podium was taken in agony by Valtteri Bottas, who passed Esteban Ocon on the same finish line; while Carlos Sainz finished the race in eighth position and Fernando Alonso was thirteenth.
The antecedent: Fittipaldi won in 1974
Hamilton and Verstappen will reach the last round of the World Cup with equal points, something that has only happened once in the history of the great circus. It was in 1974, and on that occasion it was Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren) and Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) who played the crown at the Watkins Glen circuit, in the United States, with 52 points each and after the 14 disputed events.
Finally, it was the historic Fittipaldi who was proclaimed world champion after finishing the fourth and adding three points, in a date in which his rival crossed the finish line in eleventh.
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