How Verstappen took over at Barcelona

And to think that there are still three races left, Max Verstappen was 46 points behind Charles Leclerc. Even Christian Horner, main team of Red Bull, and king of optimism when it comes to praising the merits of his team and his favorite, had never imagined such a rapid turnaround. And yet, less than a month and a half after the Melbourne round, where Verstappen was forced to retire for the second time of the year after Bahrain, the abyss has already been reduced and here is the Batavian sitting in his chair preferred, that of leader. In his mind, Barcelona has become an ambivalent circuit. It was here that he came to light in 2016, when he won his first Grand Prix with Red Bull at the age of 18, while being a circuit on which he was martyred by Mercedes et Lewis Hamilton over the last five years. There was therefore a certain logic to him experiencing a weekend full of contrasts. He didn't need the episode of great heat that shook Catalonia all weekend (36°C in the air, 50°C on the track) to give himself a huge one. . On the 9th lap, while chasing Charles Leclerc, Max made his first mistake of the season, a small incident, by getting away into the gravel trap of turn 4. An incident which cost him two positions ( Russell and Pérez overtaking him). " VS