In a career more prolific than expected on Saturday for Red Bull, Max Verstappen managed to finish in second position in the Grand Prix of Japan, separating the two Mercedes. From the third position which gave him the penalty of 5 positions to Kimi Räikkönen by changing the gearbox, and the previous Sebastian Vettel the previous day by his incident of Malaysia, the Dutch took advantage of the bad output Lewis Hamilton to be strong in your position.
Although this never came to be too far away from Nico Rosberg, the Dutch failed to significantly reduce the difference in no time, and was caught in the end wraps by Hamilton. The british pilot attempted a maneuver at the Casio Chicane on the penultimate lap, but Verstappen closed the gaps and the Mercedes had to use the chicane old, losing all option.
Hamilton complained by radio of the aggressiveness of the maneuver Verstappen, who he accused of to move in the braking, and although that movement was not investigated, Charlie Whiting had a conversation post-race with the pilot of Red Bull, according to reports Motorsport. The own Verstappen defended the legality of his movement:
“Lewis came to be 1.5 seconds faster on a occasion, and as stood behind my, it got stuck. We are suffering a little in the straights, I think we lose three tenths easily. I knew I needed to get out always well to the curve 14 and the last chicane, and fortunately, I did. Of course, as I saw him moving, he closed the door, , and I think that was far enough to see that it was going to close the door. I’m Not going to open the door and say “here you have”.
as for the rest of the race, Verstappen stressed how vital it turned out for your position of the podium to make a good start, and the proposed strategy by Red Bull to function as it should, although commented that it had no option to hunt down a Rosberg who controlled with placided the test.
“I Am glad that the outputs begin to work, two in a row, and we knew that today was going to be very decisive. We had a very good today, I was able to go at my own pace and managing the tyres. The team gave me a strategy very strong, I was very happy to have been able to get out between the two Mercedes. In the race, had a fast pace, but I think that Nico was going to pace cruise and I had the control.”
“When I went up the pace, he was able to match it, and when I went slower did the same thing. I Never had that kind of pace, so I don’t think that would have been able to do anything. Of course, you can always improve, that is what I am looking for. For now, I’m very happy. We have to stay ahead of Ferrari, that is the most important. Your penalties helped us a bit, because they were very strong in qualifying. We have leveraged and maximized in the race. Have had a chance, but they did not succeed, and we are happy for it”.
The blue flags were the predominant theme of the second half of the race by the complaints of several drivers to the difficulties that several of the folded they were put to depart. Even putting themselves in the place of such pilots, Verstappen believes that the way of working of the bent should be in accordance to their place in the race, and asked to have a discussion about it:
“I Was a little worried about the blue flags, and I think we need to talk about it. I’ve been in the same situation last year and early this year, and I understand your perspective, you want to run, but the types that you fold are fighting for a podium, so you have to take a different approach“.
“we couldn’t follow them, and we didn’t have speed”
Much more back over Daniel Ricciardo, on a day very little profitable for the australian rider. The sanctions of the Ferrari allowed him to move one line further up, but get out in the wet zone was lethal to his aspirations of a podium finish. The australian pointed to the traffic and the lack of top-end speed of the Red Bull as the main drawbacks of his career, which ended in sixth position:
“There has been a very exciting race for me, and, unfortunately, it was not my day. The penalty for Kimi was a nuisance for us, because we put in the wet part of the grill, and that involved the departure. I don’t think that my output was too bad, but Lewis took him out of his position, and I had to surround him in the wet area, and that made me lose a position with Sergio (Perez). Seb (Vettel) went well from the curve 14 and I dispatched fast on the straight and chased quickly to Doe also. This marked the first batch for me.”
“We had to be close to cars in front because we couldn’t follow them with the dirty air, and we didn’t have the speed in the straight line to make an attack. We had bad traffic and we were stuck. In the last batch, I had a clear track at the end, and I was able to make good laps, but it was not enough. I’m not going to get discouraged by this, I don’t think that we could do more today, with the circumstances and how they developed the race”.
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