Thanks to the second place obtained at the end of Turkish Grand Prix, and the simultaneous fifth placement of Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen he took back the leadership of the world championship with six rounds from the end of the championship. With this result, the Dutchman of Red Bull has overtaken the Englishman of Mercedes from the top of the standings, from where he can now enjoy a 6-point advantage over his rival, with a battle still open between the two. Yet, the outcome of Istanbul could have taken a different path even for an unusual one problem found by the number 33 of Red Bull during most of the race: Mad Max, in fact, he complained several times over the radio about the position of the steering wheel, not perfectly stable and tending to lean downwards to the left. As if that weren’t enough, the Dutchman also expressed some concerns relating to the gear shift, always placed on the left, which would not have allowed a regular downshifting of the gears.
Questioned immediately after the conclusion of the race about this inconvenience, Verstappen explained more specifically what happened, denying any kind of problem inherent in the command of the climbs: “No, it wasn’t related to this aspect – confirmed the Red Bull driver – has appeared a word next to the number of the gear engaged that did not disappear. At that point I had to change a rotary, and in the end it went well. In any case, it did not impact performance. The steering wheel tended to lean down to the left, and the tires wore out precisely because of this irregularity, but that’s something I’ve heard from the start. Also in this case – he concluded – there was no impact on performance, but it is better to say it rather than keep quiet ”.
Having clarified the question inherent to the wheel, Verstappen then focused on the fight with Valtteri Bottas, never really materialized to avert risks inherent in excessive tire wear: “At first I tried to stay close to Valtteri – commented – but at that point we also had to manage the tires. It was there that I slightly decreased the pace, going back to pushing later also taking advantage of the progressive drying of the track. In any case, there was no point where I could attack him. Among other things, he managed to manage his tires very well, and I also had to pay attention to Leclerc’s return in the first stint. He too had a great pace, and at one point I felt good tire conditions, to the point that I also felt ready to switch to slicks, but it was a critical decision. However, with the track conditions, we chose to stop with 20 laps to go to take home the result. We didn’t have the pace to battle with Valtteri – he added – there was no need to gain two or three hundredths of a second to try to follow him ”. The joy with which Verstappen celebrated second place on the radio testifies to what a much more difficult Sunday was than it might have seemed for the Dutch driver.