VERSTAPPEN SHOWS HIS CLASS
So, 135 minutes after the first formation lap, the grid was rolling again. The safety car led an out-, full and in-lap, during which time the drivers had ample opportunity to report poor visibility but sound enough track conditions. There was, of course, one person with a clear view ahead. So, with 38 minutes left, Verstappen made it count by leading away cleanly to prevent Leclerc having so much as a sniff. He then extracted an impressive 1.3s advantage at the end of what was now the sixth tour.
Vettel and Nicholas Latifi, though, had dropped to the foot of the order after pitting immediately for inters – to again raise questions over F1’s extreme caution when it comes to racing in wet weather. The Aston Martin and Williams were clumsily released side by side, but there was nothing poorly executed about Latifi’s next sectors, which turned purple on the timing screens to indicate that the crossover had arrived.
Verstappen dived for the pits and was serviced in 2.7s as the team double-stacked Perez. The arrival of the second Red Bull meant that Leclerc was held in his pitbox for a total stop time of 3.8s. Apart from lap 10, when the Ferrari was 0.5s quicker than Verstappen on the inters, there was no indication that Leclerc could repeat his work from Singapore to close to the leading RB18 and mount a late challenge for the win. Ferrari’s Friday pace in the damp had gone.
During what would be his final stint as a one-time champion, Verstappen was remarkable. He consistently lapped 1-1.5s faster than his red-clad adversary, who was showing only top-six pace as the track ever so gradually dried. Partly, that performance came with the advantage of good visibility. A drop-off in Ferrari pace and rear tyre management since the FIA porpoising-related technical directive came into effect at Spa also contributed. Its longer-standing front-graining issues played a part, too. As did the development of the lighter Red Bull RB18, which has a front-bias weight distribution to suit Verstappen’s hatred of understeer.
But for however much those factors combined, the talent from the cockpit still shone through on this gloomy day. And, at the same time as Leclerc was struggling to nurse his rubber, Verstappen was able to conserve his and still hold the fastest sustained pace of anyone.“the car was very good, but also we were looking after the tyres quite well,”he said. “We could keep the front tyres alive, which around here is quite tough on these intermediate tyres. That’s basically what gave me such a pace advantage because in that first sector, if you have a bit more front grip, that helps a lot. It was very enjoyable.”
The payoff for that affinity was Verstappen disappearing up the road to an exquisite 26.763s triumph ahead of the Ferrari. It was his 12th win of the campaign to now sit only one short of the season record shared by