mobile app bar

“He was guessing and hoping for the best” – Mercedes accuse Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of guessing at Mexico GP

Samriddhi Jaiswal
Published

"He was guessing and hoping for the best" - Mercedes accuse Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of guessing at Mexico GP

After losing to Red Bull at the Mexico GP, Mercedes has accused their driver, Max Verstappen, of winning just out of luck.

Max Verstappen made the first turn right and he was leading the race at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. He took the outside line on the lengthy run and braked distinctly later than Valtteri Bottas.

Despite there being a little margin for error,  seized control of a race he went on to win easily and moved 19 points clear of Lewis Hamilton at the top of the World Championship.

Later on, Red Bull chief Christian Horner said that it was all a well-practised plan. It was rehearsed by Verstappen during his installation lap on the way to the grid.

Meanwhile, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff and Lewis Hamilton cricised Valtteri Bottas of leaving the door open. The seven-time World Champion has subsequently offered support to the Finn via social media.

However, Mercedes motorsport strategy director James Vowles said that there was nothing particularly measured about Verstappen’s move into Turn 1.

Also Read: Formula 1 managing director draws comparisons between Red Bull starlet and the 7-time World Champion

Max Verstappen was hoping for the best

James Vowles analysed Verstappen’s comments and said that it is quite clear he was going in there guessing and hoping for the best and it worked out for him.

Valtteri Bottas gave the impression of wanting to allow Hamilton through on his inside to gift him the lead. If that had worked out, it would have given the Briton a chance to grab a lead in the championship.

Vowles added, “Verstappen’s start being good meant he was alongside Valtteri very, very quickly. The result of that is they ended up three wide incredibly quickly and early on during the run down to Turn 1.

“Now it was just a question of braking. Valtteri wasn’t on the optimal line, nor was Lewis. The grip on the right-hand side of the circuit is slightly worse than where Verstappen was on the racing line.”

“Even so, the differences in braking should have been a few metres, not perhaps the difference that you saw ultimately the drivers braked where they thought they could.”

Also Read: Valtteri Bottas reveals the reason why chose to join Alfa Romeo instead of Williams for 2022

About the author

Samriddhi Jaiswal

Samriddhi Jaiswal

x-iconinstagram-iconlinkedin-icon

Samriddhi Jaiswal is an F1 editor and writer at The SportsRush. She started her career as a business journalist but soon found her calling in lights out here we go! Samriddhi has been a Ferrari fan even when her interaction with F1 was occasional. Her first real experience with the thrilling sport came when Charles Leclerc clinched his iconic victory in Spa and Monza and painted the track red. Now, a Tifosi, Samriddhi is a hardcore fan of the prancing horse and can relate to the chaos within the Italian camp and also admires Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher. Off the track, she finds her home in books and musical instruments.

Share this article