Home

F1

“I Understeered Because of it” – Max Verstappen Reflects on Sebastian Vettel’s Impact on His Spin

Published 07/11/2020, 12:00 PM EDT

Follow Us

After what seems like ages, F1 finally had another wet qualifying session. The rain really separates the good drivers from the best and today’s qualifying was proof of the same.

Lewis Hamilton clinched yet another pole position in treacherous conditions and the only man who could’ve stopped him, suffered a spin in the final corner.

Max Verstappen opened up on his final Q3 run and how the pitting Sebastian Vettel compromised his lap.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

Did Sebastian Vettel hamper Max Verstappen?

For those unaware, Verstappen was on a hot lap in the dying stages of Q3 when he spun his Red Bull in the final corner. It appeared like the Dutchman was distracted by Sebastian Vettel, who was heading into the pits.

The pitlane entry can be a nuisance even during regular sessions and having a full wet track didn’t help.

Trending

Get instantly notified of the hottest F1 stories via Google! Click on Follow Us and Tap the Blue Star.

Follow Us

As Verstappen approached the final turn, he lost control of the RB16 and nearly crashed into the pit wall. Luckily, Max’s super driving skills in the wet came in handy and the Dutchman produced a stunning save.

Despite the spin, Verstappen wouldn’t have taken pole at the Red Bull Ring. Hamilton produced a monster lap, which saw the Brit pip Max by a whopping 1.2s. A gap that was bigger than the margin between p2 and p10.

Speaking at the post-qualifying press conference, Verstappen reflected on his final run in Q3.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

It’s incredible, you can’t see a thing when you are within 6 seconds of the car ahead of you. Towards the end it started to rain more and immediately sector two was becoming more tricky. Q3 was very difficult for me at least, a lot of standing water and yeah I lost quite a lot of grip”

When asked about his final lap during Q3, Max said:

“I understeered because of it and then I went a bit wide, like I came on to the curb on the exit and then I lost it. Anyway, it was not good enough of a lap to beat Lewis.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

Hopefully, Red Bull can capitalize on their front row start and close the gap to the Silver Arrows in tomorrow’s race. The Milton-Keynes outfit has one more chance to redeem itself around its home track.

 

SHARE THIS ARTICLE :

Written by:

Abhishek Bharadwaj

720Articles

One take at a time

Abhishek Bharadwaj is an F1 author and content strategist at EssentiallySports. Having joined ES in January 2020, he has over 700 articles to his name. While he was first introduced to the world of F1 in 2006, he started religiously following the sport in 2012 and has had an undying passion for it ever since.
Show More>