Max Verstappen drove seemingly easily to victory in the Canadian Grand Prix. Yet the Dutchman also kept an eye on Fernando Alonso, but he never really had to worry.
At the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Verstappen was supreme again this weekend. On Saturday, Verstappen was already the best in qualifying, only to barely tolerate any opposition in the race as well. When the Red Bull driver was asked during the press conference if he worried about Alonso during the race, the answer says it all.
Verstappen on pressure from Alonso
''Not worried, but you know, you're alert because you keep checking, like, is he catching or not? Or, you know, what do I need to do? Because in the beginning of the race, when he passed Lewis, I was like, okay, let's see what his pace is. And then initially it was quick, and then I could manage my pace around it,'' said Verstappen.
Still, it didn't all go smoothly. Especially the second stint on hard tyres did not go ideally for the two-time world champion. ''nd then on the hard tyres, again, like I think the beginning was good. Like I was creating a bit of a gap, but then I started to struggle with my tyres a little bit. So it's constantly just talking to your engineer, seeing, of course, on the pit board, what's happening.''
So while it sometimes seems like Verstappen can take it easy, that is not the case. ''But yes, you can't relax too much. And especially today with the tyres being so cold, you have to be on it all the time, especially also here in the street circuit. Like tiny mistakes is big lap time loss or in the wall."
When the race is too 'under stressed' and you are not concentrating fully, you tend to be less attentive and that is why he hopped the kerb during the race with about 15 laps to go.
Its like driving on a long trip on a highway at the speed limit. You tend to concentrate less due to the monotony and can even get sleepy.
His lapse of concentration also caused him to run off the track at Australia.
it just shows that he makes mistakes and isn't perfect. Max did a lot of mistakes in previous years too when his teammate was Riccardo. But nowadays his mistakes aren't so notable and have no such impact on race results because RedBull is way ahead of all other cars
It just shows they all make mistakes, but the extent to which differs. Max rides the curb once too much which he should not have. Russell does the same but hits the wall on the way out.
They all are making mistakes, but with age, maturity comes and the mistakes become smaller and have less of an impact. Normal evolution.
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