Max Verstappen has recently revealed why he went easy after George Russell and Lewis Hamilton overtook him right after the race start. The Mercedes duo attacked the Dutchman and took the lead and P2 from him right away as the lights went out.
Verstappen, talking about this opened up recently in the media. He said that he had a lot to lose if he went too far with the defense. So instead of going hard, he decided to tread carefully and take his route.
Let’s talk about that first #AusGP start. EPIC work from @GeorgeRussell63 and @LewisHamilton 💙💜 pic.twitter.com/ceKuCSutnt
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) April 2, 2023
As per Formel1, the Dutchman said that he didn’t want to damage his car by going against the Mercedes duo. He shared, “I had a lot to lose, and they had a lot to gain.” Admittedly, Verstappen was in a riskier position than his Silver Arrows competitors.
The Dutch pilot was battling to extend his lead from his teammate Sergio Perez. Before the race, the Red Bull duo was separated by just one point. Hence, going out of the race would have meant much for the 25-year-old driver.
Verstappen also had a DRS advantage
There was one more option for the Dutchman, even if he left the Mercedes duo to overtake him. The strongest DRS of the grid. The RB-19 boasts the strongest Drag Reduction System with a monstrous speed advantage over its competitors.
As Verstappen already said, losing two places wasn’t the end of the world for him. He knew he had DRS with him, so he could easily overtake the cars ahead of him who he thought overtook him by defying F1 rules.
Australia race top speed against Red Bull:
Both without DRS – Red Bull 7 km/h faster than Mercedes
Both DRS – Red Bull 14 km/h faster than Mercedes
Red Bull DRS, Mercedes without DRS – Red Bull 36 km/h faster than Mercedes
[Via @GiulyDuchessa] pic.twitter.com/vNBZDLR8Y1
— Mercedes-AMG F1 News ✇ (@MercedesNewsUK) April 3, 2023
As he did with Hamilton after a few laps in Melbourne. Similar to his Saudi Arabian epic run when he overtook car after car with the help of extremely effective straight-line speed and strong DRS.
Verstappen matched Ayrton Senna’s incredible feat in Melbourne
After the mighty win in Australia, the Dutchman matched the incredible Ayrton Senna’s feat. Max Verstappen managed to level the Brazilian’s podium count when he won the 2023 Australian Grand Prix.
Senna, who has 80 podiums to his name, is now matched by the two-time world champion, that too at the age of just 25. It is expected that the Hasselt-born driver is expected to break many more records in the coming years.
Max Verstappen already picked up his 37th Grand Prix win in Melbourne this week. He now needs only 16 wins to match the four-time world champion, Sebastian Vettel.
One more win and with that he can establish himself as the driver with the third most win behind Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher.
