In the cool-down room, immediately after the race, where drivers normally reflect on their own performances or congratulate their rivals, there was dead silence. Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc ignored Red Bull’s Max Verstappen completely, after acknowledging Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas. Leclerc was in no mood to discuss or forget Max’s outrageous ‘block pass’. Later he commented, “Red Bull was very quick today, very good at keeping the tyres better than us. I believe that anyway the end will have probably been the same but it’s just not the way you overtake, I think.”
Leclerc got away to a dream start from pole, dictating the pace from the front, leading the two Mercedes into Turn 1. Verstappen’s start was nightmarish. From P2 on the grid, a front-row place he earned because of Lewis Hamilton’s penalty, his RB15 kicked into an anti-stall mode and he was demoted to P7 by Turn 1!
But, by running long on the medium set of Pirellis, he made a late pit-stop for fresh rubber on which he could stay in contention for the win, half-way through the race. On lap 67 in the run down to Turn 3, Leclerc placed his Ferrari SF90 strategically in the middle of the road giving Verstappen no chance of a look. On lap 68, however, Verstappen dived into the corner and briefly led out of it. Leclerc powered back, held the line and reclaimed the race lead in fine fashion.
Then came lap 69. Verstappen had been gaining steadily and pounced when Leclerc appeared to leave the ‘door-slightly-open’ this time, barging in and leaving no space for the Ferrari to turn in to. It was a classic old-school manoeuvre that left the Dutch fans in raptures, cheering on like crazed football fans. Understandably, the Tifosi were not amused. The writer is a motorsports enthusiast who will cover the 2019 FIA Formula One™ season.