Flawless. Unimpeachable. Masterclass. There are such a lot of phrases you might use to explain Max Verstappen’s run from seventeenth to the race victory on Sunday, however someway none of them are sufficient. This was, I imagine, the defining race of Max Verstappen’s profession in System 1, and probably the defining race of F1 historical past. I’ve by no means seen something fairly like this. On a day when each different driver on the grid was caught up in unforced error after unforced error, Max merely put his head down and screamed via the sector on a day when no one else may discover a method to move. Full cease, this was championship-level driving. Within the moist, with out DRS to assist.
I rely myself amongst Max’s greatest haters. For years I’ve been pissed off by his stone-faced killer mentality, utilizing his automotive as a weapon within the fog of battle. He is aware of that he can dive-bomb different drivers and are available out smelling like a rose as a result of they’ll race honest and provides method to him. It’s a ruthless and cutthroat driving fashion. I didn’t prefer it when Senna or Schumacher did it both. However none of that was on show final weekend in Brazil as Max did every little thing he needed to in an effort to climb as excessive as attainable and take benefit when his rivals faltered.
This race was a shit present from starting to finish. Rain pushed qualifying from Saturday to Sunday morning, and moist climate circumstances meant numerous the so-called finest drivers on the planet couldn’t hold their vehicles pointed in the proper route. Max was caught out in Q2 with a late pink flag whereas he was on a flyer and bought bumped to twelfth on the grid. The group selected to vary his energy unit, incurring a further five-place penalty, giving him the seventeenth beginning place. A driver beginning seventeenth or worse has solely gone on to win the grand prix 5 occasions within the sport’s historical past, and this one might be one of the best of all of them.
By the tip of the primary lap Max had already moved up into the factors paying positions, getting an unbelievable begin from the second the lights went out. Admittedly Max gained a place earlier than the race even began as billionaire dipshit nepo child Lance Stroll spun on his method to the grid and beached the automotive within the gravel by his personal doing.
All through an almost five-hour Grand Prix pockmarked by security automotive and pink flag circumstances, Max managed to maintain his automotive on the island. After all Max’s unbelievable drive was helped by some critically good luck and a few technique from the group. Whereas the leaders pitted for brand new intermediate moist climate tires, Max stayed out and waited for race management to cease the race as extra rain fell, leapfrogging from fifth on the monitor to second behind Alpine’s Esteban Ocon. All of it fell his approach when Williams driver Franco Colapinto crashed laborious beneath security automotive circumstances, bringing out the pink flag and garnering him (and Ocon) a free tire change.
Ocon managed to carry Verstappen off for some time, however a restart on lap 43 of 69 noticed Max go down the within at flip one and transfer into the lead with a clear move. From seventeenth to the lead in 43 laps is mighty spectacular. I feel even when Lando Norris and George Russell had not pitted for recent tires and waited for the pink flag as Max had, they nonetheless wouldn’t have been capable of maintain him off for the remaining laps of the Grand Prix, as Max was merely the quickest man on the monitor on that day in these circumstances.
Settling that argument was the masterclass of driving that Max placed on throughout the closing levels of the Grand Prix. As soon as he’d discovered the lead of the motor race, he set about pulling as massive a niche from the sector as he probably may. When it got here to the checkered flag, Max had set 17 quickest laps, every time going quicker than his earlier because the monitor dried out and his gasoline burned off. Ultimately he completed 20 seconds away from Ocon in second. It was actually a race for the ages, and possibly clinched the 2024 title for Max, barring any vital failures within the ultimate three races of the season.
This race was completely Lando Norris’ to lose, and he did rattling close to every little thing he wanted to do in an effort to lose it. He failed to carry the lead from pole on the primary lap (once more) and McLaren made a foolish technique error to lose what monitor place he had. I nonetheless don’t like Max, and hoped somebody could be ready to problem him this 12 months, however I feel this race just about proves that Max deserves to be champion once more this 12 months. Yeah, he had a recent engine and a fortunate pit cease, however after ten races and not using a win, this was a powerful return to type. They are saying rain is the good equalizer.
