Verstappen Makes Admission Amid Brundle's Deliberate Slow-Down Theory

Tuesday, 27 August 2024 at 18:00

Max Verstappen revealed whether he deliberately slowed down during the 2024 Dutch Grand Prix after former F1 driver Martin Brundle pointed out he might have done so.

The difference between the 2024 Dutch Grand Prix winner and the driver who crossed the finish line in second place was 22.896 seconds.

Now, we've been used to seeing such a gap since 2023 and even from the start of 2024. What we haven't been used to is the fact that Max Verstappen wasn't the one in the first place.

Yes, the Dutchman crossed the finish line with more than a 20-second gap to leading Lando Norris during the 15th round of the season at his home circuit.

How could Red Bull have suddenly become so much slower? Or did they? Former F1 driver and Sky Sports commentator Martin Brundle suggested he wouldn't have been surprised if the Dutchman slowed down on purpose. He said:

“"I would hazard a guess that was not as fast as Max could go. He knew he couldn't beat Lando and dropping back a bit like that, it's going to give the factory a hurry up, isn't it? I'd be pretty sure of that."”

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Brundle, of course, didn't hint that Verstappen lost the race on purpose. He was rather implying that once the Dutchman knew the second place was the best he could do, he lifted his foot off the throttle a bit.

Speaking to DAZN Spain after the race, the triple World Champion revealed he did slow down a bit towards the end of the race. But his reasoning would rather be to not put unnecessary pressure on his engine and other components of the car.

“"The gap behind was also going up and down all the time, so I knew it was completely over with five laps to go so I got off a bit of the throttle to just bring it to the end."”

“"There was nothing really left to gain. We had to consolidate that P2. It could have been much worse. If being P2 means being sad, I'll take that."”

It is pretty normal for drivers to simply manage their pace and not push to 100% when there's nothing to fight for. Consequently, we might say Max Verstappen could indeed have finished closer to Norris.

On the other hand, with such a big lead-up in front, Lando Norris might also have started managing his pace at some point. Putting in the fastest lap of the race on the final lap would suggest that he had some pace in hand.