F1 Throwback: Did Max Verstappen Produce the Best First Lap in Recent Times?

The 2020 F1 season is on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During this time teams are doing their best to keep the fans engaged. Even F1 is now streaming some of the classic races for the fans. Today we take a look at the marvelous 1st lap of Max Verstappen during the 2017 Chinese GP. Everyone knows Max as the young, aggressive driver who has the capability of beating some of the big guns of F1. Red Bull F1 is fortunate to have a driver like him in their arsenal.

Back in 2016, Max Verstappen had already cemented his place when he won the Spanish GP for Red Bull F1. He secured 5th position in that season. Coming to 2017, he had a pretty good start to the season with a 5th position finish in the Australian GP.  Second Round was the Chinese GP. Teams got off to an unexpected start to the weekend.

Both of Friday’s practice sessions were altogether influenced by the climate conditions of low cloud, downpour and brown haze. The session occurred with a damp track surface. The session was red-flagged with just 20 minutes of running having been finished. The cars were prohibited from on-track running until an emergency medical transport became available.

A few drivers, including Hamilton and big showdown pioneer Sebastian Vettel, had no running on Friday. The quickest time set on Friday was 1:50.491 by Max Verstappen, set in wet conditions.

Verstappen had motor issues and didn’t set a qualifying time until late. He set a lap time of 1.5 s slower than his colleague in fifth. Verstappen was going after for an improved time when Giovinazzi slammed and was subsequently wiped out in the nineteenth spot. In spite of the fact that he started from sixteenth on the grid.

Race day for Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen was starting from the 16th position on the grid.

There was a downpour on the morning of the race yet the beginning was to be taken keeping the standard procedure. The track was moist before the race, however, it would dry out as the day advanced. Prominently, the main straight remained significantly wetter than the remainder of the track.

Hamilton got off to a clean start and remained unbeaten for the complete race session. 1st lap of the race is significantly remembered for the start that Max Verstappen got. As the Dutch driver was starting from 16th position, he needed the best start from the 1st lap. That’s exactly what happened.

Verstappen, overtook nine vehicles over the course of about two minutes, procuring the title of “Driver of the Day”.

This is one of the best performances of Max Verstappen, where he was able to overtake 13 cars over the course of the race. He qualified in the 19th position, started from the 16th position and finished the race on the podium.