Michael Potts/Motorsport Images
Huge moment at Eau Rouge nearly cost Verstappen Belgian GP
Max Verstappen admits Eau Rouge provided the biggest scare on his way to another comfortable victory in the Belgian Grand Prix.
Starting from sixth on the grid, Verstappen had made his way into the lead on lap 17 and was easing towards his eighth consecutive victory when rain hit the circuit around the halfway mark. The shower was brief so drivers stayed on slick tires and Verstappen had a moment as he climbed Eau Rouge, telling his team via radio “**** I nearly lost it” after gathering the car.
“Yeah, that’s probably not the best place to go sideways but luckily nothing happened,” Verstappen said. “Of course, with the new changes through there, you have a little bit more run-off, but it’s still not a nice corner to have a moment.
“The rain was just moving around on the track. Sometimes it was just increasing in other places, from lap to lap, so I just got up there and it probably rained a bit harder [at Eau Rouge] when I was on the other side of the track. I got there and it just caught me out. It was just a bit more slippery than I thought it would be.
“It happens. You quickly try to correct it. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Luckily, at that speed as well, you have quite a bit of downforce on the car. That helps [but] it was not great.”
While his response on team radio betrayed how surprised Verstappen had been, the Dutchman was also getting air time for his general discussions with race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase, but admits not all of their interactions were serious.
“Probably 50-50 [joking] in the messages. I know that the team doesn't like to do another stop but I like to mention it so they might get a bit nervous. And then I like the response: ‘No, no, we're not doing that today.’ It's fine. We know each other very well and we have a very good relationship.”
Verstappen’s team principal Christian Horner also had a sense of humor post-race as he pointed out how the Dutchman took the lead at the same venue at an earlier stage a year ago when he started 14th.
“I’m surprised it took him so long to get to the front, to be honest with you!” Horner said. “No, honestly, all jokes aside, I thought he drove an incredible race today. His pace obviously in the first stint, passing the cars that he did, he did a great job to get up to P2, and then after the stop, his race really came alive on the medium tire. I thought he showed incredible speed.
“Checo [Perez] obviously didn’t defend too hard because of the speed difference between the two of them, and thereafter it was about managing the rest of the race. Phenomenal to go into the summer break unbeaten in both grands prix and sprints. I think it’s beyond everybody’s wildest imagination to be sitting in this position now.”
Chris Medland
While studying Sports Journalism at the University of Central Lancashire, Chris managed to talk his way into working at the British Grand Prix in 2008 and was retained for three years before joining ESPN F1 as Assistant Editor. After three further years at ESPN, a spell as F1 Editor at Crash Media Group was followed by the major task of launching F1i.com’s English-language website and running it as Editor. Present at every race since the start of 2014, he has continued building his freelance portfolio, working with international titles. As well as writing for RACER, his broadcast work includes television appearances on F1 TV and as a presenter and reporter on North America's live radio coverage on SiriusXM.
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