2022’s third and final F1 Sprint session did not go ideally for Max Verstappen. The World Champion struggled to find pace on his medium compound tires and was outperformed out on track at Interlagos. Kevin Magnussen defied all expectations to start on pole but offered little resistance to Verstappen as he coasted past on lap three.
For a while, it seemed like Verstappen was going to win yet another race quite comfortably. Unfortunately, his medium tires could not match the pace of those behind him as the race progressed. The Mercedes duo of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz overtook him and the Dutchman fell down to fourth position.
His teammate Sergio Perez was behind him in P5 and seemed quicker. People were anticipating a radio message from Verstappen’s race engineer asking him to swap positions with Perez, but that never came. Verstappen and Perez finished P4 and P5 respectively and will start the race from third and fourth after Sainz’s grid drop.
Helmut has said that Red Bull put mediums on Max intentionally so they can have an extra set of softs for tomorrow
Hannah Schmitz masterclass incoming to get Max back into P1 calling it now
— Matt 🇺🇸 | 🇧🇷BRAZIL🇧🇷 (@formulamatt3316) November 12, 2022
After the race, Red Bull’s chief advisor Helmut Marko explained why they decided not to go ahead with the position swap.
Max Verstappen would not have fought Sergio Perez
After the race, Marko revealed the reason behind them starting Verstappen on medium tires. The 79-year-old stated that they want the Dutch driver to use an extra set of fresh soft tires for the main race on Sunday. This is why decided to compromise the F1 Sprint, as they knew starting on the yellow-striped tires would pose a problem.
Helmut Marko was asked why they didn‘t switch positions between Max and Checo.
He said that Max would have not fought against him but Checo was not close enough to make the switch between them. #BrazilGP— tami. (@Vetteleclerc) November 12, 2022
As far as the race goes, Marko insists that Perez was not close enough to Verstappen for them to make the swap. However, he added that if they did decide to switch positions between the two Red Bull drivers, Verstappen would not fight them.
Also read: “But satisfaction”: When Sebastian Vettel drove 2 seconds faster despite having fastest lap secured
Verstappen aiming to create history by winning in Brazil
Verstappen’s first Title win 2021 was an intense fight for the World Title with seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton. This year, his Title win has been relatively easy. The 25-year-old clinched his Championship win at the Japanese GP with four races to spare.
Even after winning the Championship so comfortably, Verstappen has showed no signs of slowing down. He won both in Austin and Mexico, and is currently at 14 race wins for the 2022 campaign. He already broke Sebastian Vettel and Michael Schumacher’s record of winning 13 races in a calendar year.
If Verstappen wins in Brazil on Sunday and Abu Dhabi next week, he will have 16 wins to his name in 2022.
