Verstappen did not fail: 'Be glad that he did go for that move'

Missing a three-pointer

In his column at De Telegraaf, former F1-driver Albers reacts to the general tendency that Verstappen would have failed. In contrast to looking critically at the Red Bull driver, Albers encourages Verstappen's move on Perez. Verstappen encouraged an attack on the Mexican, but due to grip loss he spun and lost sight of a good finish position.

"The fact that Max took that action was a good thing. Everyone knows that you hardly get that chance, apart from the fact that drivers could not use the DRS at that moment in the race.

"Be glad he's going for that action. Michael Jordan also sometimes missed a three-pointer, didn't he? I would rather have someone who tries to be first and then parks his car in the wall, than a driver who does nothing and quietly becomes third or fourth. That's in sportspeople, you give everything."

Hope for space on the inside

But wasn't the timing of the action just unfortunate? Not necessarily. "I think it is a nonsense story to say that Max should not have taken that action behind Perez. With the current Formula 1 cars it is so difficult to follow. You rarely get so close behind a predecessor."

"He put his car next to Perez's, perhaps in the hope that the Mexican would give him room on the inside. Normally the drivers always fear this when Verstappen continues, so they take that opening into account. So it wasn't the wrong action in itself."

Unfortunately this time it turned out wrong and Verstappen stayed on the gas and then you lose all downward pressure and it's done. Rolling out the car is the best option you have, but frustration may have prevailed. "Perhaps because he got away so dramatically," at the start, insinuates Albers.

But whichever way you look at it, if the action had worked and Verstappen hadn't spun, he would have been the hero. The line between hero and zero is once again wafer-thin in Formula 1.