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This appears to be Verstappen's 'secret' that allowed him to overtake during the VSC
- GPblog.com
After the virtual safety car Max Verstappen was suddenly very close to Charles Leclerc. While the Monegasque indicated that he did not expect the Dutchman to reveal his secret, it turns out that the Red Bull driver does not know the secret himself either.
During the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix it was a nerve-racking duel between Leclerc and Verstappen. The Ferrari driver managed to keep the reigning world champion out of his DRS for a long time, but just after a virtual safety car Verstappen was suddenly very close. Leclerc, like the journalists, wondered how Verstappen did this.
Trick of Verstappen
''To be honest, I was a little bit surprised myself that it did look a little bit closer, but I don't know how close Charles was, of course to zero, you know, with the delta. That's always a bit of a question mark. But also, sometimes it depends a bit where the restart is: if it's in a corner for somebody in front or not. I think I was still on a bit more of the straight side and had a bit of a better run into Turn Four as well,'' the Dutchman said at the press conference after the Grand Prix.
So no secret recipe, at least not one not Verstappen shares. It did help Verstappen, because that way he got into Leclerc's DRS and could start his attack. The 2021 World Champion needed several attempts, but finally got in front of his rival and won a race with start number #1 for the first time.