Windsor sees Red Bull prepare better: 'Lots of tyre homework'
F1 News
- GPblog.com
Although Ferrari seemed more competitive on the hard tyre than on the medium tire, Verstappen in his Red Bull was faster each time. Peter Windsor analyses the times of the Ferrari drivers and Red Bull driver and concludes that Verstappen didn't even make much of an effort to stay at the front.
Red Bull knowledge of tyre despite bad Friday Verstappen
After the safety car the situation changed dramatically and Verstappen did have to fight hard to keep his number one position. The Dutchman held on well and with three laps to go still managed to break free from Charles Leclerc and win the Miami Grand Prix. Windsor sees in the first phase of the race that Red Bull had a better grasp of tyre management. The team had more knowledge of both hard, and medium compound.
Windsor explains in a YouTube video: "Red Bull were spot on [with medium tyre at the start]. I made a point at the amount of homework Sergio Perez was doing [on the different tyres]." Indeed, Verstappen had a very bad Friday and still had to spend a lot of time learning the track on Saturday during the third free practice session.
Verstappen had easy race in Miami until safety car
Windsor continued his analysis on the race. The Briton saw that Verstappen extended his lead further and further after the pit stops with the hard tire, while he was very careful with his tires. The Dutchman's first flying lap after the pit stop was a 1:33:1 and Perez's a 1:33:2. Windsor: "Max wasn't pushing the tyre early on in the race. He was sitting there letting the tyres come into temperature," he added. So according to Windsor, Verstappen was faster than Leclerc in his out lap without putting much effort into it.