A great victory and a big sigh of relief in the clan Red Bull, after the victory of Max Verstappen in Brazil. The Dutchman ended a long drought of 10 Grands Prix without a victory, an eternity for him and the Austrian team. And what a success! After the frustration and disappointment of missing qualifying in the morning, due to red flags that deprived him of a representative timed lap in Q2, the triple world champion made a formidable comeback from 17th on the grid in the afternoon, to go on to win brilliantly in the rain.
A victory achieved by sheer force of will and thanks to a nice strategic move: at the height of the bad weather, the Dutchman preferred to stay on the track – like the two Alpine – hoping for a stoppage of the race… and his prayers were answered, as the red flag was displayed on lap 32 following Franco Colapinto’s accident. Max Verstappen then took control of the race after the final restart by overtaking Esteban Ocon, then took off, aligning the lap records at the end of the Grand Prix. A historic comeback in the history of the Formula 1 : before him, only three drivers had won starting from so far back on the grid (Räikkönen – Japan 2005 and Watson – Detroit 1982)!
Red Bull and Verstappen back in business?
"Max gave a masterclass. In difficult conditions, on a very gloomy day, he shone brightly, said Christian Horner, Team Principal of the Red Bull team. He started from 17th on the grid, showed patience, but also a great ability to attack. He had a good start, his first lap was exceptional. I think he passed six cars on the first lap. To win from that far back was beyond our wildest dreams [Sunday] morning.
“He had the pace, we had a great car today, underlines the British leader, happy to see Red Bull able to fight for victory again. I think it's a testament to the hard work that goes on behind the scenes at Milton Keynes. We've had a tough time but everyone has worked hard to get back into a winning position. That's what we did today and Max got the most out of his car."
With this eighth success in 2024, Max Verstappen has scored a huge coup in the championship against Lando Norris, only 6th at the finish of the Brazilian Grand Prix. Now with a 62-point lead, the Dutchman will have a first match point to clinch the title at the next round, in Las Vegas (November 21-23). Christian Horner does not want to get carried away and points out that the fight for the Constructors' title is also still ongoing. “It’s a big blow today, but we still have to close it out. We haven’t given up on the Constructors’ Championship yet. We missed the chance to have both cars in the points, but there are still three opportunities.”
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Gérard
05/11/2024 at 02:05 a.m.
"Did not fail to dry up his praise." I suggest that the journalist look up the meaning of the verb "to dry up" in the dictionary...
Yves-Henri RANDIER
04/11/2024 at 05:59 a.m.
"Masterclass", an obvious choice for the Dutchman... but we have seen all those who have grown up and filed down wet tracks! Hence "Masterass" for TexMex, who started in front of his teammate but finished far behind him and out of the points, beaten by Tsuhonda and his great friend Lawson!
Dominique Vidal
04/11/2024 at 05:45 a.m.
"Dry up" with praise? Horner is Scottish to be so stingy???