It’s an old motorsport law. On city circuits, the limit that separates a company from a debacle is a very thin thread, a margin that champions know how to caress sparingly, only when it is necessary to make a difference. Today Max Verstappen knew this by incredibly painting 26 of Jeddah’s 27 corners, interpreting the circuit with an aggressiveness that allowed him to attack the curbs and kiss the guards twice without losing a single penny.
The Dutchman launched for the last lap of Q3 after being informed of the advantage taken by Hamilton a few seconds before, and attacked the first two sectors covering them in record time (59 ”748). The pole position was firmly in his hands with an advantage of more than two tenths over Lewis Hamilton, he would have been enough to close the last stretch of track in 27 “870, a time widely within his reach considering that in the first ‘run’ that sector had it route in 27 ”623.
But Verstappen continued to push also in the last section, further increasing his margin up to the braking point of turn 27, where the braking blocking arrived. Max didn’t give up, and when he got back on the accelerator the rear end of his car hit the outside barriers. “I could see from the display that it was a good lap – he explained – I knew that Lewis was a tenth and a half ahead (compared to Verstappen’s previous time) and I thought that in the last corner I could still gain something. It’s really disappointing because it’s been a really good lap so far, I was having fun ”. “It would have been the turn of the year – commented Christian Horner – it’s a great shame. Max could see on the display that he was ahead before the last corner, but that’s how it went. We hope that the gearbox is not damaged “.
In the space of a few seconds the scenario has drastically changed in view of tomorrow’s race, and being in the penultimate round of the season, also of the world championship. Max’s bad moment became a nightmare when he realized that Bottas’ kidney shot had also knocked him out of second place, making the front row a Mercedes fiefdom.
Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes, congratulates Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, in Parc Ferme after qualifying
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Hamilton, who had finished his last lap launched two minutes before Verstappen, waited for the final result of qualifying sitting in his car after returning to the pit lane. When the engineer informed him of Verstappen’s mistake, Lewis merely thanked the team. No one knows better than him that today in Jeddah the reference in terms of speed was Max, and in fact Hamilton wore the biggest smile in front of Bottas, pampered as never before seen the value that his second position can assume in view of tomorrow.
In the last corner of the last lap the perfect plan of Red Bull vanished, which from the beginning of the weekend had focused its work on performance in qualifying, certain that from the first position it would have had good opportunities to manage the leadership even in the 50 laps in schedule tomorrow. In a few seconds everything was wrecked: Max’s error, Bottas’s exploit and also Leclerc’s, who put Perez in the third row.
An overturned scenario, and which at this point makes Hamilton the obligatory favorite to win in tomorrow’s race, also considering the excellent pace confirmed by Mercedes in yesterday’s long-runs. However, if there is one thing that this incredible season has taught us, it is that when the values on the pitch seem to go in one direction, the denial often comes. Verstappen after qualifying had the most disappointed face seen since he has been in Formula 1, and obviously there was no lack of criticism from those who consider his error a sin of presumption with potentially fatal effects in terms of the World Championship.
Obviously Max has stumbled upon a pivotal moment, a mistake he could have avoided with more careful handling of the information in his possession. The first to know is the Dutchman, but it is also much easier to focus everything with the engines off, it is another thing to do it in the excitement of a crazy qualifying lap that at a corner from the end seemed destined to enter the hall of fame. of the ‘pilots vs walls’ challenges.
It went badly, but something remains, namely that Red Bull’s potential in Jeddah is not what we saw weeks ago in Qatar. Tomorrow Hamilton will be in an ideal situation to aim for victory, Max in that of having much less to lose. Verstappen’s goal is realistically that second position that would allow him to arrive in Abu Dhabi again as leader of the general classification, but precisely because he is Max, it is better not to bet too much. He has something to be forgiven, and he will do everything to succeed.
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