Max Verstappen‘s victory was sealed from the first turn after the start, where the Dutchman surprised Oscar Piastri with a maneuver the Australian did not anticipate. Once, the master of these late braking moves was Daniel Ricciardo, who practiced them while at Red Bull. Now, the man who became his teammate in 2016 and caused his departure at the end of 2018 has made it his trademark. And it’s not for laughs, but for wins. Max Verstappen’s attack on the poleman’s McLaren on Sunday was both brilliant and decisive.
“My start wasn’t particularly good,” the Dutchman explained on Sunday. “Before reaching that first turn, which is far from the grid, I was almost in third position. I braked late and realized I was carrying a lot of speed when I released the pedal.”
Max Verstappen triumphed at Imola, ahead of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri’s McLarens.
The day’s defeated party tells the rest of the story. “Yes, Max clearly surprised me,” conceded a Piastri, for once not as impassive as usual. “I genuinely thought I had things under control. If I had to do it again, I would brake ten meters later.”
However, knowing how to do it is another matter, as even Verstappen admitted he only realized late that his attack was successful. “I saw that the grip was good on the outside,” concluded the Red Bull driver, delighted with his move and also lucid. “But it happened very quickly.” And very well.
“The car performed well, and we executed our race very well:” Max Verstappen was very pleased with his Emilia Romagna Grand Prix after his victory.
This was a response, a year later, to another surprise attack from Piastri on Charles Leclerc. It happened in Baku, and the Australian admitted that when he released the brake pedal, it was a 50-50 chance of overtaking the Monegasque or ending up in the wall.
