Monza, known as a super-fast circuit. This year, under sunny skies, a race that lasted only 1:13:41 was held, and Verstappen, who started from second on the grid, won the race.
Let’s look back at the performance of great drivers with analytical approach.
1. Two Perspectives
Many fans might have thought that Verstappen had changed when they saw his attacking move on Sainz.
He never made a reckless attack on Sainz, and his approach was very normal compared to the scene where Perez changed his line at Parabolica when he was trying to overtake the same driver in the final stages of the race. Verstappen didn’t try to force his way inside at turn 1 either.
What is noteworthy is the battle at turn 1 on lap 6. He tried to take the inside at turn 2 from the outside, but when he sensed that Sainz was not going to back off, he immediately backed off and avoided contact.
This was similar to the 2021 Italian GP, Verstappen vs Hamilton battle. At that time, Verstappen was in almost the same position as this time, and he did not back off and collided. Both drivers retired.
In other words, Verstappen, who was very aggressive against Hamilton in 2021, is now taking a very conservative approach. Therefore, it can be said that Verstappen has changed in the opposite way from then.
But on the other hand, there is also a perspective that he has not changed. That is, he is still looking at things from a big picture perspective. The current Red Bull & Verstappen package is so good that if they pass turn 1 with no damage in fifth place or higher, and perform normally throughout the race, they can almost win. Therefore, there is no need to take any risks when battling with rivals who are struggling with their rear tires in the first stint.
On the other hand, Mercedes & Hamilton in 2021 were very competitive, and Verstappen could not afford to back off when he was side by side with Hamilton. On the contrary, he might have been trying to make Hamilton back off by calculating to some extent, taking into account the relationship between them in the point ranking. Looking back at the races at that time, Verstappen was already a driver who could see the whole picture of the race.
Of course, it seems that his ability has improved since then, but if Verstappen is put in a similar situation as in 2021 in the future, will he take the same approach as in this race? There is a question mark there. Therefore, it can be said that Verstappen has changed a lot from two years ago, but at the same time, it can also be said that he has not changed essentially.
By the way, as shown in Fig. 1, Sainz was initially trying to compete with Verstappen by running at a high pace, but after being overtaken in the latter part of the stint, he fell behind by about one second of Verstappen’s pace, which suggests that his tires were quite worn out.
Even if you look at the races of the past few years, Verstappen seems to be good at saving his tires while putting pressure on his opponent in their DRS zone. I started to feel that way from the 2019 Monaco GP, and recently it was close to that in the early stages of the Belgian GP.
Verstappen is known for his overtaking skills, but his essence may be his skill in driving in turbulence. By doing so, he can put pressure on his rival who is right in front of him, save his own tires while hurting his opponent’s tires. It might be interesting to look at Verstappen’s strength from a different perspectives.
2. A Master of Defense
Overtaking has become easier with the 2022 and later cars. However, it seems very difficult to overtake Albon in Williams, who shone with his defensive ability again in Monza.
Surely Williams is a fast car on the straights, but that alone is not enough to keep the rivals behind them. It is only possible by pulling away from them at Parabolica and getting out with high exit speed. In Montreal, it was important to get out of the hairpin, which is a low-speed corner for defense purposes. Here at Monza’s Parabolica is a medium-high speed corner. The elements required for defense are quite different, but Albon and Williams’ package excelled in both.
Additionally, he is very good at tyre management. Even if the driver and machine are perfect, if the tyres face a cliff stage, they wouldn’t be able to keep their position. But Albon always make it possible to run a long stint, which is so impressive.
And what is noteworthy about Albon is that he does not make mistakes. If you watch the battles of the world best 20 drivers in recent days, you can see that it is different from F1 until 2021. With the ground effect cars from 2022 onwards, a slight mistake will result in losing position to the rival behind, making it more challenging for the defense side.
I would like to keep an eye on Albon’s exciting defense in the remaining eight races of this season.
Writer: Takumi