Trying to summarize what happened in Jeddah is certainly not easy. In the penultimate round of the season, the tension between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton reached peaks never reached before, also thanks to an absolutely inadequate race direction in managing a duel of this level.
Verstappen finished second in a chaotic race, negatively affected by Michael Masi’s confusion.
At the first start, the Red Bull driver was unable to overtake Bottas and had to queue in the wake of the two Mercedes without having the opportunity to attempt an attack against the Finn. On the tenth lap, however, the first event that revolutionized the situation took place.
Mick Schumacher went into a violent impact against the protective barriers in turn 22 and the race direction neutralized the operations by sending the safety car onto the track. Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas immediately entered the pits to abandon the medium tires and switch to the hard ones, while Max was left on the track to gain first position.
Incredibly, however, the race direction decided shortly after to display the red flag to allow the stewards to fix barriers that seemed intact.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB16B, Esteban Ocon, Alpine A521, and Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W12, at the restart
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Verstappen thus had concrete help from luck and was able to change tires to mount the hard bikes without being forced to pit.
The second start, which took place from a standstill, however cost Max dearly. The Dutchman did not start in the best way from pole and was immediately joined by Hamilton at the braking point of turn 1. The Red Bull driver braked very late risking the contact and in carrying off Lewis was overtaken by Ocon.
Shortly after, however, the race was interrupted again due to the multiple contact that saw Sergio Perez, George Russell and Nikita Mazepin out of the game.
At that juncture an embarrassing little theater began between the race direction and Red Bull to haggle Verstappen’s starting position.
The third start saw Max start from the third box, but on this occasion, thanks to the choice to mount the medium, the Dutchman gave a crazy start with which he managed to put both poleman Ocon and Hamilton.
Having taken the first position, Max maintained the lead until the final stages when he lost the “self control”. In an attempt to overtake by Hamilton in turn 1, Verstappen again took off very late losing the rear and then cut the escape route and maintain the first position.
The episode then sparked a chain reaction shortly thereafter when he cunningly tried to hand over the position to the Mercedes rival. Max slowed down near the detection point before the finish straight and Hamilton did the same thing and hit the rear of the Red Bull with his front wing, damaging the endplate.
The tension skyrocketed and shortly after Verstappen was punished with a 5 ” penalty, but for cutting corner 1 and not for slowing down too much.
Hamilton, despite the damaged winger, managed to overtake Max shortly after to go on to win the 103rd victory in his career which allowed him to reach the Dutchman at the top of the standings when only the Abu Dhabi appointment is missing.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB16B, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W12
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
At the end of the race Verstappen, rather gloomy, commented on what happened in a chaotic race providing his point of view.
“It was a pretty eventful race, a lot of things have happened that I don’t totally agree with, but it went as it went. I tried to give everything on the track, but I wasn’t sure the tires could go all the way. I tried to fight until the end of the race ”.
Max then gave his explanation on the controversial episode of contact with Hamilton, leaving us perplexed …
“I slowed down. I wanted to let him pass, I was on the right but he didn’t want to pass me there and we touched. I just didn’t understand what happened at that moment “.
“I tried to let it pass and at a certain point it hit me. I was looking in the mirrors and I was looking for the space to let it pass. I don’t really understand. There was a bit of confusion. They told me to let it pass and I I did it”
Far more fiery, however, were Verstappen’s words spoken in the radio team broadcast by the FOM when he was informed that he had been voted Driver of the day.
“Fortunately, the fans have a clear idea of racing. What happened today is incredible. I just tried to run, but this sport has become more of a penalty than anything else. For me it’s not F1. At least the fans enjoyed it. I gave my best “.
Now only the last appointment of the season remains to decide who between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton will get their hands on the world title.
“Everything will be decided in Abu Dhabi. I hope it’s a nice weekend for us ”.
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