Windsor pinpoints reason Verstappen could keep Norris behind him
F1 News
- Cas van de Kleut
Relatively little happened at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix until the closing stages. Suddenly, Max Verstappen lost pace, allowing Lando Norris to catch up. In the end, there was one reason the Dutchman still went home with the victory, at least, Peter Windsor states in his analysis on his YouTube channel.
The gap went from over six seconds to 0.725 seconds at the finish in the last 10-15 laps. However, Norris realised he might have needed one or two extra laps to overtake Verstappen.
Windsor on fight Verstappen and Norris at Imola
Windsor states that it was an exciting battle at the end: "Max in a Red Bull, Lando in a McLaren, with no great grip, although it was nothing compared to how Red Bull was suffering at the same time. He closed the gap to Max Verstappen, who was told the difference was five seconds and that he had to be careful in terms of track limits."
The analyst continued: "Lando was catching up, at about half a second a lap. A lot of pressure and it looked like they were going to go wheel to wheel during the last few laps."
It didn't get that far. According to Windsor, that was for one reason: "To his credit, Max only lost a few tenths in sector 1 during the last few laps, but in sectors 2 and 3 he was just on the same pace as Lando Norris. Lando was pushing hard, but in the last few laps he didn't manage to get into the DRS, so in that respect it was another absolutely brilliant piece of racing from Max Verstappen, who made no mistakes under pressure."
This article was written in collaboration wtith Sophia Crothall.