Verstappen took his seventh victory of the 2022 season in Sunday’s French Grand Prix after Leclerc crashed while leading towards the end of the first stint.
Leclerc qualified on pole for Ferrari and had led Verstappen by just over a second before Red Bull pulled the Dutchman back into the pits at the end of lap 16.
Ferrari kept Leclerc out of the way before he crashed out on lap 18 with an error, prompting a safety car that took over with Verstappen leading Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton.
Verstappen managed his tires well to finish the race without pitting again, crossing the line 10 seconds ahead of the peloton. The victory saw Verstappen’s championship advantage increase from 38 points to 63, giving him more than two race wins with 10 races to go this season.
“It’s always very important to always score points, even on a bad day, which we did in Austria,” Verstappen said.
“Of course the lead we have is big, but it’s probably a bit bigger than it should have been, when you look at the performance of the cars between the two cars.”
Verstappen admitted he thought Leclerc would have been quicker in the first stint of the race and that it would be “very difficult to follow”, only to find he could stay within reach more easily than expected.
“Immediately I could see that our balance wasn’t bad, but he could also manage a bit,” Verstappen said. “It looked like we were very competitive, but that’s of course what we like to see.”
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari F1-75, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18
Photo by: Alastair Staley / Motorsport Images
Verstappen acknowledged his buffer against Leclerc was “a nice lead”, but warned that “a lot can happen” after watching his 46-point deficit against Leclerc after three races turn around quickly.
The result also saw Red Bull extend their lead at the top of the Constructors’ Championship over Ferrari to 82 points despite Sergio Perez missing out on a late podium with a virtual safety car issue.
Red Bull F1 boss Christian Horner praised his team’s efforts to adapt so well to the new regulations despite the intensity of the 2021 title fight, admitting the results and points advantage were ” beyond my wildest expectations.”
“It’s really a testament to the determination, dedication and hard work that went into behind the scenes at the factory,” said Horner.
“We’ve seen Ferrari being very competitive this year as well. We’ve seen Mercedes picking up steam. But given that we were probably the last team to make a full transition to this year, it’s been a phenomenal job.
Horner said Verstappen would have won track position over Leclerc thanks to his early pit stop, but was still aiming to stick to a one-stop strategy after seeing lower tire degradation provided that.
“It was the first one we thought was on the one stop limit, and the tire grade was better than we expected before the race, to be honest with you,” said Horner.
“When entering the race, we were leaning towards two [stops]. As the race unfolded, we started heading towards the one stop shop, and saw a bit of track space that we could drop Max into.
“We pulled the trigger, halfway through the lap he had the position on the track, so from that point on it was just getting the tires in well.”
Had Leclerc not crashed, Horner felt Verstappen would have been “able to defend reasonably comfortably” thanks to Red Bull’s straight-line speed advantage in sector two, but felt it was “very , very tight between the two teams with a very different approach to reaching the lap time here.
Verstappen took his seventh victory of the 2022 season in Sunday’s French Grand Prix after Leclerc crashed while leading towards the end of the first stint.
Leclerc qualified on pole for Ferrari and had led Verstappen by just over a second before Red Bull pulled the Dutchman back into the pits at the end of lap 16.
Ferrari kept Leclerc out of the way before he crashed out on lap 18 with an error, prompting a safety car that took over with Verstappen leading Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton.
Verstappen managed his tires well to finish the race without pitting again, crossing the line 10 seconds ahead of the peloton. The victory saw Verstappen’s championship advantage increase from 38 points to 63, giving him more than two race wins with 10 races to go this season.
“It’s always very important to always score points, even on a bad day, which we did in Austria,” Verstappen said.
“Of course the lead we have is big, but it’s probably a bit bigger than it should have been, when you look at the performance of the cars between the two cars.”
Verstappen admitted he thought Leclerc would have been quicker in the first stint of the race and that it would be “very difficult to follow”, only to find he could stay within reach more easily than expected.
“Immediately I could see that our balance wasn’t bad, but he could also manage a bit,” Verstappen said. “It looked like we were very competitive, but that’s of course what we like to see.”
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari F1-75, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18
Photo by: Alastair Staley / Motorsport Images
Verstappen acknowledged his buffer against Leclerc was “a nice lead”, but warned that “a lot can happen” after watching his 46-point deficit against Leclerc after three races turn around quickly.
The result also saw Red Bull extend their lead at the top of the Constructors’ Championship over Ferrari to 82 points despite Sergio Perez missing out on a late podium with a virtual safety car issue.
Red Bull F1 boss Christian Horner praised his team’s efforts to adapt so well to the new regulations despite the intensity of the 2021 title fight, admitting the results and points advantage were ” beyond my wildest expectations.”
“It’s really a testament to the determination, dedication and hard work that went into behind the scenes at the factory,” said Horner.
“We’ve seen Ferrari being very competitive this year as well. We’ve seen Mercedes picking up steam. But given that we were probably the last team to make a full transition to this year, it’s been a phenomenal job.
Horner said Verstappen would have won track position over Leclerc thanks to his early pit stop, but was still aiming to stick to a one-stop strategy after seeing lower tire degradation provided that.
“It was the first one we thought was on the one stop limit, and the tire grade was better than we expected before the race, to be honest with you,” said Horner.
“When entering the race, we were leaning towards two [stops]. As the race unfolded, we started heading towards the one stop shop, and saw a bit of track space that we could drop Max into.
“We pulled the trigger, halfway through the lap he had the position on the track, so from that point on it was just getting the tires in well.”
Had Leclerc not crashed, Horner felt Verstappen would have been “able to defend reasonably comfortably” thanks to Red Bull’s straight-line speed advantage in sector two, but felt it was “very , very tight between the two teams with a very different approach to reaching the lap time here.