Max Verstappen has achieved something in Formula 1 for which there is no term yet: « Didn’t expect it to go like this! »
If winning, pole position, fastest race lap and leading every lap is a grand slam, what is it that Max Verstappen has achieved at Imola? The Dutchman not only achieved the Grand Slam, but also won the sprint race. That has never happened before.
After a very close victory over Charles Leclerc on Saturday, the Red Bull driver was clearly in control of the action on Sunday. Verstappen prevailed at the wet start and drove the race home confidently ahead of team-mate Sergio Perez. Even the change from intermediates to slicks went smoothly for the world champion.
« I didn’t expect it to go like this, but of course a weekend like this is fantastic, » said Verstappen, who not only scored the maximum points haul with 34, but also the third most by a driver in a weekend – topped only by Lewis Hamilton (50) and Felipe Massa (36) in the 2014 « Abu double » finale with double points.
Cracking start and lapping
« We didn’t make any mistakes and we made the right decisions when we changed from intermediates to slicks. And from then on we just controlled the race, » Verstappen said, expressing his satisfaction with Sunday. « We already saw yesterday in the sprint that we had good pace in the car and could take care of the tyres. A very positive weekend. »
But it wasn’t quite as easy as it looked in the car, he points out. For despite the commanding drive, there were a few sticking points. There was the start, for example, which did not work well on Saturday. But in the Grand Prix, it was main rival Leclerc who didn’t get away well, while Verstappen turned first into the first corner without any danger.
Only two drivers have ever scored more points in a weekend than Max Verstappen (34) at Imola: Lewis Hamilton (50) and Felipe Massa (36) at the 2014 Abu Double Final! F1 ImolaGP pic.twitter.com/dIxnPrG50R
– Norman Fischer (@NormanMST) April 24, 2022
They didn’t fix anything on the clutch after the poor start in the sprint, though: « We just had poor execution of sequences and we did better today, » he said. « There’s still room for improvement, but in the wet it’s always a bit iffy. Last year I had a great start, you don’t always get that right in the wet. «
And even when the race had settled, the Red Bull driver had to be alert. For the lapped drivers in particular would not have made life easy for him. « Some stayed on the racing line, of course, and I had to overtake them in the wet. That wasn’t great, » he recounts. « It’s very easy to get braked and go off the track if you go off the line and go through a wet patch. «
Leclerc mistake « happens quickly «
But Verstappen kept his cool and only had to react to what Leclerc was doing in the final section of the race. The Monegasque had pitted a second time to pick up new soft tyres. While Verstappen says he could have gone through on the mediums, as the leader you naturally take such an opportunity to change tyres.
« I only heard that the two behind me were coming into the pits, so I asked if I could have new tyres as well. But that was already the plan anyway, » he says. « Of course it is always nicer to drive on new tyres than on the old ones. I would have made it to the end, but it’s not so nice. »
After 63 laps, Verstappen finally crossed the finish line as the winner, claiming his second victory of the season. Thanks to the Ferrari driver’s late mistake, he made up a total of 19 points on Leclerc and moved to within 27 points of the World Championship lead.
« It happens quickly, » he said of Leclerc’s mistake. « He was pushing hard to fight with ‘Checo’. That hurts, but he knows that himself. He doesn’t need to hear that from anyone here. »
Still, it was an important win for Verstappen after a mixed start. « Of course Melbourne wasn’t great for us and the start in general wasn’t that fantastic, » he says, « so we needed a good weekend. «