Verstappen made the right choice by coming in “only” on the second lap of the sprint race

During this sprint race, shortened by 6 laps after driving behind the safety car due to rain, Max Verstappen was indeed the most efficient on track. He pitted on the second lap to put on intermediate tires, losing the lead to Oscar Piastri, who had pitted on the first lap.

Max Verstappen was finally able to catch up to Oscar Piastri and overtake the McLaren just after the Eau Rouge corner, on the straight line of the Spa circuit, thanks to a thunderous slipstream gained with audacity, staying fully behind the McLaren at Eau Rouge.

« It was the safest choice. I could have come in first, but I would have been blocked by other cars, so I didn’t care about coming in first and preferred to stay on track. I knew we had a good pace in the race. With the intermediates, we were clearly flying today. » explained Verstappen at the finish.

« I didn’t have so many brake problems, it was under control, we just had some very minor issues. »

In the main race on Sunday, Max Verstappen will start from the 6th position, “only” losing 5 places due to a gearbox change. A different race in dry conditions: « Tomorrow, I know that I will have several cars to overtake, and I will try to stay away from any problems. »

A good strategy for the Red Bull driver, which allowed him to avoid traffic problems in the pit lane and potentially getting stuck. The Red Bull pit is indeed the first one. Therefore, he would have had to wait for all the other cars behind him to pass before exiting his box, potentially ending up in the last positions.

Sergio Pérez, on his part, suffered from premature tire degradation, struggling in the final laps and eventually having to retire after a gravel excursion. Initially in 5th place, he lost several positions in just a few laps. Another failure for the Mexican compared to his formidable teammate.