Praise for Verstappen: "He sees his chance and misses it"

Verstappen had to start on the dirty side of the track. There is a lot of rubber there and during a start that is not what you want as a Formula 1 driver. "He gets the expected poor getaway," says Davidson, who then sees Verstappen take the slipstream from Bottas. "The two Mercedes slot in front of him and now he is in the slipstream and he gets a run on them. He goes to the outside but he loses the slipstream and tries to dart back in behind them." 

At that time, Verstappen is behind Lewis Hamilton and Bottas. The Dutchman brakes a bit early when entering the second corner. "Verstappen tends to hang back here just to see how it unfolds. But that allows the Renault of Daniel Ricciardo to give him a run for his money into turn two. That puts Verstappen off, he locks his brakes and runs wide," the analyst explains when showing the video.

Verstappen overtakes Ricciardo

Verstappen then goes full throttle and takes the route between the polystyrene barriers on the left side of the track. As a result, the damage remains limited and the Dutchman can rejoin the circuit. "Verstappen goes for the switchback. He stays out of Ricciardo's dirty air and then tries to cross it to get the best run possible into turn five. The flashing light at the back of Ricciardo's car gives Verstappen the notification that it's game on because he's harvesting energy to the battery and Verstappen goes for the inside line,” said Davidson.