Windsor sees something remarkable in the sector times of Verstappen's pole lap
F1 News
- GPblog.com
Max Verstappen's pole position came as a surprise to many, especially since Mercedes have been enormously dominant in 2020. The pole in Abu Dhabi was the first pole this season powered by a non Mercedes engine. Peter Windsor also enjoyed the performance of the Dutchman.
"He was already the fastest in the last free practice session and managed to set a very strong lap. When he crossed the line, Christian Horner said on the on-board radio that he was able to put down a fantastic second sector and that was it. It was interesting to watch the sector times in Abu Dhabi," Windsor explains in a video. on his YouTube channel.
Grip extremely important
"The speed in your lap was also based on how you use your tyres. The softest tyre was easily warmed up, but also lost its grip quickly. If you dissect the pole lap of Verstappen, you can see that he had set the second sector time in the first and last sector and that he was third in the second sector, behind the two Mercs."
Horner himself said that he had seen this data after qualifying.
"I think that's what Horner was referring to about the on-board radio, how close he was to the Mercedes. That second sector has a lot of straights, of course, but you could see that he made up for a lot in the third sector. In the end, it was a combination of those three sectors that gave him pole. The team also played a role in maintaining grip on the softest tyre," Windsor concludes.