“Trop gentil”, Max Verstappen gets caught in China
Strange scene at the very end of Q3: the two Red Bull and the two Haas cars were unable to defend their chances until the end as they crossed the starting line a few seconds after the checkered flag.
When you think of Max Verstappen’s attitude on track, the word “kind” is not necessarily the first that comes to mind. Yet, it is indeed the one used by the Dutchman to explain why he couldn’t do a second stint in Q3: « During the last lap in Q3, I was following the Ferrari in front of me since we were all in a line. I was actually trying to be kind and not overtake. It’s not something you do when we are all trying to get ready for the last lap. This time, I got caught when I was overtaken at the end of the lap. »
Indeed, at the hairpin, Sebastian Vettel opted to overtake from the outside and thus found himself in the wake of his teammate. But the Red Bull driver then tried to recreate a sufficient gap with the German’s Ferrari. However, since all the drivers waited until the last moment to join the track, the Renault drivers did not wait and also overtook the young driver.
The sequence could have been even worse for the team when Pierre Gasly positioned himself on the inside of his teammate in the last corner. He then braked sharply to avoid colliding with him.
In the process, Max Verstappen lost the benefit of the fourth place secured during his first attempt since Charles Leclerc managed to improve his time on this last attempt, which inevitably frustrated the Dutchman: « Obviously, when you can’t do the final lap in Q3, you know that the guys who are doing a lap have the opportunity to pass you, and that’s what happened. »
The Red Bull drivers are not the only ones who couldn’t defend their chances as the two Haas drivers were also caught out by the clock during their sole attempt in this session. Nevertheless, Günther Steiner, the team director, remained realistic about the positions obtained by his drivers: “We couldn’t cross the start-finish line in time because everyone slowed down. We didn’t succeed, but if you don’t take risks… We wouldn’t have gained anything by going out first. We would have been 9th and 10th in any case.”
