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via Reuters

via Reuters

The weekend, so far, has been marred with poor luck for the driver that won the inaugural race. Max Verstappen has a mountain to climb if he wants to repeat the feat in the race’s second edition. Verstappen could’ve had a better start, but thanks to the qualifying mishap by Charles Leclerc, there is a twist in the Dutchman’s race fate. However, according to an F1 expert, despite the Leclerc incident, the Dutchman was already having a difficult qualifying session. The F1 expert proved that with his post-qualifying analysis.

Peter Windsor is a former team principal turned journalist with his YouTube page featuring F1 analysis. The Australian shared his opinion on the qualifying sessions in his latest video. Windsor had already caught the fury of the fans after downplaying Verstappen’s capabilities after Baku. However, speaking in his latest YouTube video, the expert highlighted more evidence to support his opinion.

via Reuters

“This is the first time I see Max Verstappen, two-time world champion, overloading the car in those fast corners at the start of the lap. He was probably trying to go full throttle through those corners, or something else he hadn’t done before. He eventually came out well (out of turn five), but by the time he got to turn seven, the fast left corner, he had overloaded the car. Normally he doesn’t do that at all. As a result, the lap was lost and he went to the pit lane for new tires,” said Windsor.

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We never saw any evidence of Verstappen pushing his limits during the qualifying. However, the former Williams boss believes the worst is yet to come.

Peter Windsor paints a gloomy picture of Max Verstappen in the Miami race

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Most would argue the Dutchman did not position himself at the front of the grid because of Leclerc’s untimely incident. Most would be right to think so. However, Peter Windsor believes the Dutchman was showing signs of negligence on track during the qualifying sessions. In fact, the Australian predicted a miserable outing for Verstappen starting in P9 instead of an overtaking masterclass.

via Reuters

“I don’t know if it’s going to be easy to overtake here. It certainly won’t be as easy as in Baku. Verstappen was incredibly fast on the medium tires in free practice, but the question is whether he can use that from ninth on the grid on a street circuit with tight sections,” he said and added. If he manages to get through the first lap without taking damage, we have a good race. However, the chance that he will not take any damage in the first round seems small to me.”

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WATCH THIS STORY: Max Verstappen’s Hypocrisy Exposed on George Russell’s Gutsy Move in Baku

Starting a race from the midfield is always a high-risk scenario. Despite being careful during the opening few laps, the drivers around Verstappen might very well push him into a corner and ruin his race. A lot of possibilities out there with the Dutchman starting in ninth position. Plenty of excitement to follow!