“I immediately knew,” Max Verstappen has a deja vu moment looking back at the first lap clash between Carlos Sainz and Oscar Piastri
Carlos Sainz and Oscar Piastri’s antics remind Max Verstappen of his own disaster from a few years ago.
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Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz (Via Twitter)
The 2023 Belgian Grand Prix was one of the easier wins that Max Verstappen has achieved this season. Ahead of the race weekend, it was understood that the Dutchman was going to incur a 5 place grid penalty for Sunday’s race. This being due to the new gearbox that he had taken on his RB-19. After winning the sprint race on Saturday, Max seemed ready as he lined up in 6th place for Sunday’s race.
After getting a decent start, turn 1 of the Belgian GP proved to be dramatic as usual. Carlos Sainz locked up going into the corner and ended up giving Oscar Piastri no space. This led to the Australian driver coming in contact with the wall which ended his race prematurely. On the other hand, Sainz had to also retire from the race later on due to damage being reported on the right side of his Ferrari.
Max Verstappen stated in an interview that it was like a deja vu moment for him. “My start was good then, I saw that Sainz went to block and the instantaneous reaction would have been to go inside, but Piastri was there too and he undercut the braking,” he said. “I immediately knew what was going to happen because exactly the same thing happened to me in 2016. So I decided to go wide and stay out of trouble,” he continued.
Max Verstappen is close to equalling Sebastian Vettel’s record with Red Bull
Sebastian Vettel won 9 consecutive races in a season with Red Bull back in 2013 during his era of dominance. It seems like Max Verstappen is etching closer to matching that record. As of the 2023 Belgian GP, Max has won 8 races in a row and it doesn’t seem like he’s going to stop anytime soon. In total, the Dutchman has already won 10 races in this season.
With the summer break getting underway, the drivers and staff will have 3 weeks to sit back and relax before the F1 circus starts again. The Dutch GP will take place at the end of August where Max Verstappen will get the chance to equal Sebastian Vettel’s record. It will be interesting to see how far the Red Bull driver can take his dominance this year.
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- Mercedes extends George Russell’s contract amidst uncertainty over Lewis Hamilton’s future
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Varad Joshi
(940 Articles Published)