WATCH as Valtteri Bottas almost takes out Max Verstappen during the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix restart

Watch how a late-breaking maneuver by Valtteri Bottas kept the race and world title championship alive for Max Verstappen.

The inaugural Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. The tensions were high leading to a topsy-turvy finish. Max Verstappen was awarded a ten seconds penalty and two points deduction from his driver’s license.

But did you know that Verstappen would have been out on the race on the restart?

At the restart of the race, Valtteri Bottas driving for Mercedes was an inch close crashing into the Red Bull champion. As the lights hit green, Verstappen lunged down the inside of Hamilton and Ocon to snatch the first position. However, thanks to Bottas’ late-breaking. Or else both of the drivers would have been out of the race leading to potentially making Lewis Hamilton the champion.

Another Instance of slowing down by the number 77

During the first safety car of the race, there was another tactic used by the Mercedes driver. The number 77 slowed down to create a gap between Hamilton and Verstappen.

Also Read: New aero and livery changes spotted in the Ferrari 2022 challenger?

Watching this, Verstappen complained about this on his radio stating:  ‘Valtteri Bottas is massively off the pace!.’ On which the red Bull pit crew agreed. While Bottas pitted, Max was ordered to stay out and close the gap to Hamilton.

Changes to the Jeddah Corniche Circuit

Some minor adjustments will be made to the Jeddah Corniche Circuit to improve driver visibility confirmed by the organizers.

Drivers had a great time ripping around the high-speed track, although many were concerned about the lack of visibility around the corners.

“Firstly, there are going to be one or two slight changes to the track.” Saudi Motorsport Company Chief Executive Martin Whitaker said in a statement.

Also Read: AlphaTauri on why the budget cap won’t stop the likes of Mercedes and Ferrari from dominating the sport

“These tweaks are directly related to a drivers’ sightline from the cockpit. “It’s minimal work, but it will help improve forward visibility in a couple of corners.”

“We’ve been striving to improve on some areas for our second event.”

The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix will take place on March 27, following the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.

We’re halfway to the 2022 #F1 stc #SaudiArabianGP! 🇸🇦

A weekend of action & entertainment at the #JeddahCornicheCircuit awaits! 🤩

نقترب من موعد جائزة السعودية الكبرى stc للفورمولا 1! 🇸🇦

تنتظرنا نهاية أسبوع مميزة بالمنافسات والترفيه في #حلبة_كورنيش_جدة! 🤩
#OvertakeTheFuture pic.twitter.com/yKgjQsYKXt

— F1 stc Saudi Arabian GP (@SaudiArabianGP) January 30, 2022