Max Verstappen won the F1 race as usual, but this time it came in Austin after a tougher battle than usual. The talking points of the race weekend are also very strongly attached to the team mate by Sergio Perez about.
Valtteri Bottas’ race weekend was difficult. He finished in 14th place, but moved up two places Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton after rejections.
What solved it?
Max Verstappen only started the race from the sixth grid. Nevertheless, the champion driver was able to take the win. Never before had a race in Austin been won outside of the first two grids.
Verstappen also won despite suffering brake problems during the race.
– Above all, Verstappen succeeded himself. He really had to concentrate a lot, but it didn’t show on the outside by going out of his mind, Urheilu’s F1 expert Jukka Mildh evaluate.
Verstappen’s comments on the team radio also caught my eye during the race. Verstappen harshly tweaked his engineer several times during the race. Verstappen complained, also tinged with swear words, why he is spoken to during corners. Because of the brake problems, Verstappen wanted the team to be quiet then.
Verstappen’s openings reminded the reporter Kimi Räikkönen, who in 2012 iconically snarled at his engineer Lotus. At that time, Räikkönen directly stated that the engineer providing additional information would leave him alone. “Leave me alone, I know what to do” still lives strongly in the F1 world. At that time, Räikkönen drove to victory in Abu Dhabi.
Expert Mildh was amazed by Red Bull’s activities in Austin.
– I think the radio messages were really wonderful, because the team can see exactly where the driver is going. However, Verstappen said about it many times. Of course, that kind of thing annoys drivers. When an F1 car doesn’t stop properly in a corner, it’s not very safe. You have to focus on that, Mildh describes.
What spoke?
However, the biggest topic of conversation was Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez. When both the team championship and the drivers’ championship have been decided, the eyes are focused on the battle for the World Cup silver.
For a long time it seemed that Perez would grab the second place with his superior Red Bull car. Mercedes Lewis Hamilton however, has risen to threaten the Mexican driver.
Hamilton finished second in Austin, but he too suffered a setback after the race. Hamilton and Leclerc were disqualified after irregularities were found in the bottoms of the cars.
However, after rejection, the difference is 39 points. There are four races left in the season. The rejection was a severe setback for the Brit, as he crashed his teammate of George Russell with in the previous race in Qataris and had to stop in the opening round.
Perez has a contract for next season with Red Bull, but recently there has been increasing speculation about the Mexican driver’s future.
There has been speculation, among other things, about whether the former Red Bull driver driving the AlphaTaur could Daniel Ricciardo replace Perez.
The Australian, who injured his wrist during the race weekend in Holland, returned to compete this weekend after a break of four races.
Ricciardo was 17th and the last finisher in Austin.
– Today’s competition and the challenges of the last few years do not make Ricciardo the first choice to replace Perez, in my opinion. However, I would believe that Red Bull is such a tough team that they think about the best solution from their own point of view. This brings hand-wringing even inside the stable about what should be done. Verstappen should be accompanied by a driver who would bring the best possible positions to the team, says Mildh.
A flop?
The expert Mildh is ready to raise Ricciardo as this weekend’s driver flop. Ricciardo clearly lost to his teammate To Yuki Tsunoda. The Japanese was tenth and grabbed the last valuable point for the F1 team’s jumbo. As the icing on the cake, Tsunoda took an additional point for the fastest lap of the entire race.
– One could have expected a better return from Ricciardo, although it is difficult to return from sick leave. There was a clear difference to Tsunoda, says Mildh.
After the competition, we saw yet another combination of flop and surprise. The winner Verstappen received fierce boos on his neck. At the same time, the international TV broadcast could be heard cheering from Perez’s fans as they loudly chanted Perez’s nickname, Checo.
– The boos were quite violent. That kind of thing doesn’t fit the best manners, Mildh said and considered the behavior of the booing fans to be unsportsmanlike.
Mildh believes there were many reasons for the boos.
– Verstappen’s superiority has certainly had an impact on the F1 audience. Many certainly hoped that Lando Norris would have won this race. Perez being in Verstappen’s shadow has also aroused emotions and we wanted to show it in some way, says Mildh.
What about Bottas?
According to the expert With Valtteri Bottas was a return to normal in Austin after the excellence of Qatar.
In Sunday’s race, Bottas immediately lost a few places at the start. The starting grid was still a decent 13th in terms of points and getting into the top ten, but according to Bottas, the pace was not enough in the end. Bottas also lost a teammate throughout the weekend For Guanyu Zhou.
In the race, Bottas got past Zhou when Alfa Romeo asked the Chinese to make room for the Finn. Bottas was 14th and Zhou 15th in the original results, but the positions went up by two after the rejections of Leclerc and Hamilton.
Bottas explained his poor performance throughout the weekend with the fact that the car skids on the track when the tires overheat so much. In addition, after Sunday’s race, Bottas brought up the fact that Alfa Romeo had to adjust the ride height of the car due to the bounce of the track.
According to Suomalaistahti, the track may have had more influence on Alfa Romeo’s performance than other teams.
Mildh understood Bottas’ explanations.
– Austin’s track is difficult. There will be quick changes in direction, Mildh explained.
– When the concept of the car is not complete, it affects the drivability. I could see that the biggest problems are on the car side, not the driver side. The Austin circuit was not suitable for Alfa Romeo at the moment.
What next?
The F1 series continues already next weekend in Mexico. Even then, the noise will continue around Sergio Perez, the country’s beloved F1 star. Passionate fans will surely help Perez, but according to the expert, the Mexican needs to stay to level up.
– Unfortunately, the situation is that Perez has underperformed really badly. The situation has gone badly under Perez’s skin. He needs to put himself together really well again in order to be able to continue with Red Bull and continue in Formula One, says Mildh.