Quote:
Originally Posted by M5Rick
If it were not for the LEW plank wear DQ and brake bias problem for MAX then he would have finished the customary 20-30 seconds ahead.
Still not ''exactly'' clear what was the braking difficulty with the 1 car but that new pads were already fitted there I'm guessing it was a brake pump problem.
In recent races going back a bit to when Phoenix featured, boiling brake fluid was the problem.
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According to Marko: "We had changed the brake pads and somehow they deteriorated rapidly during the race. That didn't give him the right feeling. Sometimes he braked predominantly with the front of the car, sometimes predominantly with the rear. It made it very difficult for him to drive at the limit, but he worked around those problems masterfully."
He still managed to get from P6 to P1, with Hamilton progressively approaching, with a chance to reel him in.
No 'grace under pressure' inside the Verstappen cockpit this time. The brakes issue must have utterly frustrated him: the brakes don't operate the way these usually do, so you got to find a workaround to manage both the brakes issue and the tire degradation. Makes you lose precious time and the smallest brake lock-up can cost you the race win. Bothering. But you got to stay level-headed and prioritize to get the job properly done.
His race engineer did his job. It's highly unpleasant to be yelled at, but emotions can run high inside the cockpit in a high-stress situation in an extreme environment. Race engineers comfortably sit at their pit walls, but the pilot inside the car is left to his own devices 'in the arena', busy with priorities, fully focused.
Also shows the sheer determination to win. Verstappen could have settled for a P3 podium finish. But that's not his line of thinking.
Kimi "Iceman" Räikkönen rants and stress compilation: