The next course offers some spectacular overtaking opportunities. That also means: World champion Max Verstappen could come back into focus. After the penalties in Mexico, he is under pressure again because of his driving style – and his lead in the World Cup standings has disappeared.
The circuit in Interlagos, which is predestined for drama and spectacle, could not be at a better time in the racing calendar for all Formula 1 fans in the tough fight for the world championship title. The atmosphere has heated up, the points lead has melted and Max Verstappen is in the focus of the driving supervisors after his double penalty for his uncompromising course in Mexico City. But that’s not enough.
“As the title fight becomes increasingly tough, it is quite possible that the stewards in Brazil will have to make even more tough decisions,” it says on the racing series’ homepage. Father Jos has already made it clear that Verstappen will not give in for the benefit of the race stewards: “He will not change his driving style just because there are a few stewards who don’t like him.”
Both father and son will also be watching very closely who the International Automobile Federation appoints to judge offenses this time, after the father predicted a possible conflict of interest in Mexico.
Verstappen’s car is too slow
The Formula 1 season could be heading towards a furious finale. Things were really toxic recently in 2021. At that time, Verstappen won the world championship for the first time, the race management played the decisive role in the last Grand Prix, in the previous weeks there had been a lot of tension between Verstappen and Red Bull as well as Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes, who were ultimately defeated at the time – on the track between the two Drivers, outside between team managers.
Like now. Red Bull’s team boss Christian Horner recently presented data that was intended to prove that Norris would not have gotten the corner in one of the duels in Mexico City. McLaren’s managing director Zak Brown countered in the direction of Max Verstappen: “It’s unnecessary, it endangers everyone It’s not a clean race.” The verbal bickering is part of it, it always has been. It’s not just the engines that make noise in Formula 1.
Racing is changing following precedent
It remains to be seen whether one or the other, and Verstappen in particular, will behave differently as a result of the race stewards’ recent rigorous punishment course. Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff believes in this: “A driver always pushes himself to the limit, and if the rules allow a certain type of racing, a driver like Max will always take advantage of it. But now there is a new interpretation and interpretation of the rules and I think that will change the way everyone races.”
Wolff spoke of a precedent. “From now on you have to leave space on the outside of the corner when the car is next to you. Braking too late and sending the other car off the track and also leaving the track yourself – that’s no longer possible.” That’s good for racing, said the team boss before the race this Sunday (6 p.m. CET/Sky ).
This maneuver of being on the inside and not allowing yourself to be overtaken by more or less subtly pushing the attacker outwards is part of Verstappen’s world champion repertoire. The decisive factor is always whoever is in front at the apex has the right to the curve. Verstappen then brakes so late that he is usually in front.
But it’s not about the fact that overtaking should or should no longer be allowed. It should be about fighting hard but fairly. Even Verstappen’s father Jos had to admit that his son’s second action might have been too much in the Autodrómo Hermanis Rodríguez against Norris. Max Verstappen didn’t spend long with public self-examination. If his car wasn’t so slow, he wouldn’t have to defend himself so much, is his credo. He still has 47 points more than Norris. There are still four Grand Prix with two sprint races to be driven.
Norris’ compatriot Damon Hill, a former world champion and current TV expert, also sees Verstappen as partly to blame for the team. “It almost seems like Max can do whatever he wants,” he said on the Sky Sports Podcast. “But it can’t be a race of destruction just to keep your place or deny someone else a place.”
jb/dpa
