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Verstappen on absent grip during closing stages of Imola GP

Verstappen on hard tyre problems: 'Need to analyse'

20 May at 07:00
  • Cas van de Kleut

Towards the end of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Max Verstappen experienced problems with his hard tyres. After the race, the Dutchman explained how the tyres lost grip.

The Grand Prix in Imola was not exciting, at least until the last 10 to 15 laps. Suddenly, Lando Norris moved closer to Verstappen, who initially had a big lead but lost time due to the lack of grip on his hard tyres. In the closing stages, it was questionable whether the Red Bull driver could hold on to first place.

In the end, Verstappen held on to the lead. The difference between him and Norris at the finish was just 0.725 seconds. This marks the 67th narrowest margin between first and second in Formula 1 history.

Verstappen on hard tyre problems

After the race, Verstappen explained how Norris managed to catch up so much: "Yeah, I just couldn't really get the tyres to work. It just felt like they were not operating in the right temperature window, and that just got worse and worse. The last 15 laps for me was like driving on ice. They were not responding anymore, so that's something that we have to analyse."