12/13/2023 0 Comments Max verstappen gear![]() ![]() Alpine’s Esteban Ocon held on at the front for an incredible first career F1 win, and he had teammate Fernando Alonso to thank as the Spaniard held up Hamilton’s charge just long enough to protect Ocon’s lead. A lap later Hamilton was last having pitted to ditch his intermediates, leaving him faced with the mother of all recovery drives on a track where overtaking is famously Quite Hard. The race was red flagged but as the field went back out for its formation lap the track was rapidly drying out: everyone bar Hamilton pitted for slicks, leaving us with the bizarre sight of just one car lining up on the grid. Mercedes locked out the front row with Verstappen in third, but a poor start for Bottas followed by a lock-up in wet conditions saw the championship leader punted off with huge floor damage as half the grid came to blows. ![]() If someone scripted the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix and pitched it to a Hollywood director, it would be laughed out of the room for being stupidly implausible. ![]() The war of words that followed between the teams was deeply unpleasant, and relations between Mercedes and Red Bull never really recovered. The stewards decided Hamilton carried most of the blame and handed him a ten-second penalty, but in front of his home crowd the Briton rallied back to claim an unbelievable victory. The unstoppable force had finally met the immovable object and with both drivers refusing to yield they collided at Copse, with Verstappen spearing off into the tyre wall and faced with a trip to hospital. Knowing he needed to get ahead at the start to stand any chance of victory, Hamilton came out all guns blazing as Verstappen defended aggressively through the first few corners. On the back of five straight Red Bull wins Mercedes badly needed a result at Silverstone, and although they started well enough with Hamilton fastest in a Friday afternoon qualifying session, Verstappen hit back the next day with victory in the inaugural ‘Sprint Qualifying’ earning him three championship points and the ‘official’ pole position for the grand prix. Hamilton meanwhile had a torrid afternoon, with a poor Mercedes strategy seeing him lose positions to Sergio Perez and Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel. But slamming into the barriers caused hidden damage which meant the Monegasque driver didn’t get as far as the formation lap, leaving Verstappen to romp to victory and the championship lead on race day. Verstappen and several others didn’t get the chance to improve in Q3 as Leclerc - having already posted the fastest time - crashed heavily, ending the session. So extreme is the layout that it brought the Ferraris into play in 2021, and out of nowhere it was Charles Leclerc who qualified on pole as Verstappen and Hamilton could only manage second and seventh between them. ![]() While Red Bull was frustrated that Verstappen’s error cost it a shot of pole position and has left him third on the grid, Marko said he could not complain about his driver’s attacking style.Monaco has always been something of a bogey circuit for Mercedes (yes, even though they’ve won it several times) as its high-downforce, low-speed nature has never fully suited the philosophy of their recent cars. Photo by: Charles Coates / Motorsport Images Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing after his crash It's difficult to overtake here, but still.” If the gearbox has damage or glimpses of that, then we will change it. “We are so fast that we don't take any risks. “They decided not to change and then bang, on the warm-up lap, the consequences became clear. Speaking about Red Bull’s thoughts on the matter, Red Bull’s Helmut Marko told Servus TV: “We have to take it apart and look at it. Red Bull will not know just yet whether or not Verstappen’s gearbox has escaped unscathed, but the team is clear that if there is the slightest risk of it being compromised then it will elect to replace it – which would mean a five-place grid drop. The nature of the impact with the concrete barrier – with his right rear hitting it side on – is the type of incident that can result in critical gearbox damage. But he made a slight mistake under braking for the final hairpin, when he locked up and ran in slightly too deep, before clouting the wall on the way out. ![]()
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