If there’s something that young Dutch driver Max Verstappen would quite like to have then it is more speed, especially since according to the Red Bull driver it is the key ingredient that was missing at Turkey, the just-concluded action-packed race at Istanbul Park.
Interestingly, quite like this year’s race that was marked by wet conditions, the 2020 Turkish GP too saw Verstappen struggling to breach the Mercedes’ pace advantage. The only difference being that this year, Bottas was too far ahead for Red Bull’s comfort, while the last year, the Red Bull had tried everything possible to overtake Bottas, Max skidding out of the track and nearly colliding on a slippery surface toward the end in a botched attempt to generate enough heat in the tires to execute a pass over the Finn.
Moreover, in 2020 we saw a race where post pitting, on lap 43, the Dutchman wasn’t able to catch the likes of Sainz, who ended up fifth, ahead of the Red Bull driver.
This time around, Verstappen, P2 in the end, did just enough to retake the title lead from his main title rival, i.e., Sir Lewis Hamilton.
While to his credit, Verstappen did well in the end to race to a fighting second, just ahead of his teammate Perez, with both cars finishing on the podium, it wasn’t quite the day for Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes.
To this day and perhaps for many to come, the key question confronting all die-hard LH 44 fans will be- what might have happened had Lewis’ team not had gambled on the tire choice during the closing stages.
Exactly a fortnight ago, prior to the Turkish GP, it was McLaren’s Lando Norris who fell prey to the wrong tire choice, with Hamilton pitting for the Inters and the young Briton staying out in a failed attempt to maintain his race lead.
However, that being said, what does Max Verstappen feel about what he needs urgently so and why where the title fight to Hamilton is concerned?
We need to find more pace because six points is nothing. I wish I had more pace. It’s going to be tough,” Verstappen told Sky Sports television. They were definitely quicker this weekend, we just didn’t get it together,” said the Dutch driver. “On the wet they also seemed to have the edge. Even with the points lead, it’s not going to be easy,” shared Max Verstappen.
It was evident that all the time Max was trying to cut down his gap to Valtteri Bottas, the Finn notching up his maiden race win for the year and who knows, as per some, also his final victory with Mercedes in 2021.
But that said, here’s what Verstappen further added about his chances this season and how the 2021 F1 world title fight has panned out until such time:
“We’ve had a really good year, so it’s not going to change the world for me if we finish first or second at the end of the year,” said the Dutchman. “We won’t give up, we will always try to do the best we can.”