If anyone masters the art of increasing the lead after a safety car situation, it’s Max Verstappen. Take the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix last weekend, for example. The Red Bull driver cleverly outmaneuvered Oscar Piastri, creating an immediate gap and winning the race. “You have to accelerate a bit earlier in the corners, but that can also go wrong,” he warns.
Is it not simply that Piastri was caught napping in Imola? “No, because if I’m second behind the safety car, I always pay attention when someone in front of me drives away,” Verstappen explains during the media session in Monaco. “The problem is human reaction time. It’s about two-tenths of a second, so you’re always later. And if you’re already late, that continues. As a result, you automatically lose three to four-tenths of a second. But in some corners, it can help if you accelerate a bit earlier compared to others, then you gain a few more meters.”
“But this can also go wrong,” Verstappen knows from experience. “Last year in Qatar, I tried that too, but then the car skidded, which was not very pleasant on the straight. So it can also work against you. But so far, it has usually gone well.”
