You never see that at a restart, but Verstappen did it

F1 News

3 May 2021 at 07:07
  • GPblog.com

One of the best moments of the Portuguese Grand Prix was Max Verstappen's overtake of Lewis Hamilton at the restart of the race. According to Peter Windsor, this was largely due to the design of Portimao.

Overtaking at the restart

"We don't see overtaking on a restart very often, but definitely this time. Absolutely fantastic from Max Verstappen. He went around Lewis Hamilton. You never see that, especially not on a restart. But Max Verstappen did it," says Windsor in his new YouTube video.

"I think one of the reasons we saw overtaking there is that it's a fast corner, so track designers take note. It worked great on the restart." Verstappen could not enjoy his second place for long. Moments later, Hamilton grabbed the spot back after a small mistake by the Dutchman. For Hamilton it didn't stop at second place. He also managed to overtake his team mate Valtteri Bottas.

Good win from Hamilton

"This was Hamilton's first good win this year. You heard him say after the race that there is still a lot to do. I think Lewis is talking there about a very small sweet spot when the car is good. Then they can beat the Red Bull," Windsor concludes. The British analyst expects the Austrians to have an advantage over Mercedes in Spain.