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Former F1 driver denounces British magazine after Verstappen's win in Brazi

Former F1 driver denounces British magazine after Verstappen's win

Today at 15:30
  • Corwin Kunst

Former F1 driver Jan Lammers says the British media still do not fully recognise what Max Verstappen shows in Formula 1. After the Brazilian Grand Prix, the former driver saw a motorsport magazine list ten points that enabled Verstappen to drive from P17 to victory in Sao Paulo.

Lammers, who started in 23 Grands Prix, lists what he has read in the NOS F1 podcast. According to the magazine, Perez's poor start was one reason. "Well, I think Max performed way better than a few more drivers at the start, not just Perez."

Next, the DutchGP sporting director touched on why Verstappen and Red Bull decided - when the rain got harder - not to go in for fresh rubber. "[Charles] Leclerc had already gone to new intermediates and you could see he was not going significantly faster. And then going to the end of the race. The older the intermediates got, the faster he went. So I don't think it was a guarantee new inters were faster."

More reasons

The magazine also cited that Verstappen saw Leclerc disappear in front of him when the Ferrari driver was fifth. "As if Verstappen got a place there as a gift as well. Then they talk about Mercedes getting Russell out [against his will], the red flag disadvantaged Norris, Ocon was unwilling to compromise Alpine's result and he easily passed Max. Norris would have a problem with his brakes and Ferrari had problems in the cold conditions," Lammers added.

"And they write that Verstappen's real speed only showed when he was driving in free practice. So I honestly think that's all very dramatic. When you put in such a performance that everyone has been watching with breathtaking interest.... Even the biggest critics say it was next level. Then you shouldn't start citing all these kinds of things."

This article has been created in collaboration with Matt Gretton