Max outside the points at Spa: "No luck in the race"
Published on 28 August 2016 by Stefan Meens
After an impressive P2 in qualifying, Max Verstappen was not able to follow up his strong starting position with a points haul in the Belgian Grand Prix. After being squeezed into La Source at the start of the race by both Ferraris, Max's RB12 suffered both front wing and floor damage, compromising the youngster's pace. In the end, Max had to settle for eleventh.
At the front, Nico Rosberg took a dominant win. Daniel Ricciardo finished second, ahead of Lewis Hamilton. The world champion mounted an impressive comeback from 21st on the grid.
“I was unlucky today, but I don't think I could anything about it”, sumarized Max his race to Verstappen.nl, “My start wasn't great but when I took the inside line into turn one, my wheels didn't lock and I was able to make the corner. But the Ferraris squeezed me. First Kimi and then Sebastian just turned in. It damaged my front wing and there was a lot damage to the floor. I lost a lot of grip which results in higher tyre degredation. From that moment, my race was pretty much over.”
“My car was difficult to driver after the first corner but I tried to make the most of it. Unfortunately I couldn't score any points. It's a shame for the fans, because we were quick all weekend. We just didn't have luck in the race. But that's how weekends sometimes go.”
At the start, Max does not get off the line well. As he turns into the first corner, he is squeezed by both Ferraris. In the process, half of the RB12s front wing comes of as well as damaging the floor. Max uses all his car control to get to the pits without loosing too much time. Back at the team, Max gets a new front wing and a set of the medium compound.
In the fifth lap, Kevin Magnussen has a monumental off at Eau-Rouge. The Dane loses control of his Renault at the top of the famous corner and smashes into the tyre wall. Although hobbling instead of walking, Magnussen is able to get out of the car to go for a check up at the medical centre.
The crash did not only completely destory Magnussen's Renault, it also damaged the crash barrier and tyre wall. Repairing the crash zones will take time. As a result, race control red flag the Grand Prix and thus the drivers return to the pits. The temporary break, gives teams the opportunity to switch tyres. Max remains on his used mediums, with most cars around him switching.
Max sits in fourteenth when the race is restarted. He is hunted down by Kimi Raikkonen. The two have a tough fight with the Red Bull youngster holding position, much to the frustration of the Finn, who voices his anger over the radio. After two failed attempts, Kimi eventually passes Max, who has already decided to pit for a set of the soft Pirellis.
The number 33 rejoins in seventeenth but works his way back up to P11. With nineteen laps to go, Max finds himself in eighth with the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel raising the pressure. In a clever move, the Dutchman allows the German to pass him out of the La Source hairpin. This gives Max the advantage of DRS on the Kemmel straight, where Max is able to re-pass the Ferrari into Les Combes.
Despite his clever tactics, Max has to let Vettel go in the next lap. The 18-year-old is struggling for grip with the tyre degredation being higher than expected due to the damaged floor. He pits a final time in lap 28 and completes his final stint on another sets of the soft compound.
Once again, Max tries to work his way into the points after rejoining in fifteenth. Unfortanely, P11 is where his march to the front ends.
Belgian Grand Prix - Spa-Francorchamps - Sunday 28 August
RACE RESULTS 01 6 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 44 1:44:51.058 25 02 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer 44 +14.113s 18 03 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 44 +27.634s 15 04 27 Nico Hulkenberg Force India Mercedes 44 +35.907s 12 05 11 Sergio Perez Force India Mercedes 44 +40.660s 10 06 5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 44 +45.394s 8 07 14 Fernando Alonso McLaren Honda 44 +59.445s 6 08 77 Valtteri Bottas Williams Mercedes 44 +60.151s 4 09 7 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 44 +61.109s 2 10 19 Felipe Massa Williams Mercedes 44 +65.873s 1 11 33 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer 44 +71.138s 0 12 21 Esteban Gutierrez Haas Ferrari 44 +73.877s 0 13 8 Romain Grosjean Haas Ferrari 44 +76.474s 0 14 26 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso Ferrari 44 +87.097s 0 15 30 Jolyon Palmer Renault 44 +93.165s 0 16 31 Esteban Ocon MRT Mercedes 43 +1 lap 0 17 12 Felipe Nasr Sauber Ferrari 43 +1 lap 0 NC 20 Kevin Magnussen Renault 5 DNF 0 NC 9 Marcus Ericsson Sauber Ferrari 3 DNF 0 NC 55 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso Ferrari 1 DNF 0 NC 22 Jenson Button McLaren Honda 1 DNF 0 NC 94 Pascal Wehrlein MRT Mercedes 0 DNF 0
