“The Only Chance They Have…”: Cautious Max Verstappen on the Brink of Overconfidence as Lewis Hamilton & Co. Give a Reality Check

The Australian GP was a hoot and a half. The biggest shock that everyone faced was the lightning performance of the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell. However, they were an even bigger shock for Max Verstappen, as he was caught lapping by them as the lights went out! Having later won the race, the defending champion remains pretty confident about his chances.

Max Verstappen comfortably took the win comfortably. But the team and fans feared that upon the restart, the Dutchman might lose his lead to the Mercedes yet again. Nevertheless, that didn’t happen because Verstappen proceeded with extra caution and didn’t underestimate the rivals as he did during the start of the race. Also, he didn’t overestimate his car but still believes it to be the best, despite fans’ beliefs that he was schooled by Lewis Hamilton.

Reflecting on his starts and where he lacked, as quoted by BBC’s F1: Chequered Flag, Max commented upon his rivals, saying, “We just didn’t have a good start. Probably we didn’t choose the right procedure. And, yeah, I was just quite cautious as well in the first lap. I didn’t want to risk getting damaged. And the cars behind me, they were really aggressive, which, fair enough, they knew they were not quick enough. So, the only chance they have is lap one and they took advantage of that.”

Drawing an inference from the Dutchman’s comment, he was asked if the only way to get him was at the start. To which he replied, “At the moment, we don’t know what’s going to happen in the future,” reinstating his belief in the beast that is the RB19.

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Max is confident enough in the car to clutch a win, starting anywhere on the grid. But the burst of performance from Aston Martin and especially Mercedes must keep him grounded for the weeks to come.

Max Verstappen narrowly escapes a late penalty

Drivers being penalized for incorrect starting grid positions has been the story of the season so far. On Sunday, it seemed that Max Verstappen’s turn for the penalty had come after Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon, but he managed to escape it narrowly by a few millimeters. Fans were quick to point out the penalty, but the Dutchman was defended by the rules.

Explaining why Max wasn’t penalized, Sam Collins, as quoted by PlanetF1, said, “The regulations state that no part of the tyre, the contact patch – that’s the bit of the wheel that actually touches the ground, can sit forwards of that white line, but the contact patch is just, by a matter of probably a few millimetres, fully in contact with the white line,” as he mentions Max’s front tires being in contact with the white line.

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Had they found the eventual race winner guilty, a penalty of five seconds, as seen in the past, would’ve demoted him to the back of the grid. Alas, fortune favors the brave!