Max Verstappen reveals ‘smart tricks’ to beat Charles Leclerc in Saudi Arabia
Verstappen secured his first victory since claiming his maiden F1 world title last season
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Your support makes all the difference.Max Verstappen has outlined the “smart tricks” he had to play to pip Charles Leclerc to victory at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
The Red Bull driver got the defence of his F1 world title up-and-running with a late triumph in Jeddah, passing Leclerc in the Ferrari with four laps to go and holding on.
Having been forced to retire in Bahrain a week ago, it was a much more pleasing outing for Verstappen, who again looks likely to be a leading contender for the Drivers’ Championship.
The Dutchman and Leclerc had also engaged in a thrilling duel at the Bahrain Grand Prix as the Ferrari driver eventually took victory.
The pair’s burgeoning rivalry could be a feature of the season and Verstappen enjoyed their back-and-forth battle in Saudi Arabia.
“It was a really tough but good race,” said the 24-year-old after his 20th win in F1. “We were battling hard at the front and we (Red Bull) just tried to play the long game.
“They (Ferrari) were really quick through corners, we were quick on the straight, but the tyres were wearing out quite quick around here.
“You could see at the end we had a bit more pace, so I just tried to get by. It wasn’t easy, playing smart tricks in the last corner, but eventually I managed to get ahead.
“Even after that, he was constantly in the DRS and then with the yellow flags on the last lap, just knowing how much you should lift, whether it was allowed or not, it was tough.
“It seems like once you get quite close, because when the cars get within half a second you can actually have a good exit. I think that makes it a lot more tricky to actually do the pass in the last corner compared to last year, so it’s a lot harder to plan your pass.”
Sergio Perez had taken pole for Red Bull and led early on but good fortune from Ferrari enabled Leclerc to get ahead of the Mexican after Perez was caught out by a safety car period immediately after a pit stop.
That meant that Leclerc and teammate Carlos Sainz could fill out the rest of the podium as the Italian team continued their early-season resurgence.
But victory was Red Bull’s to put a disastrous experience at the Bahrain International Circuit last week, with both Verstappen and Perez failing to finish, firmly behind them and laying down their first marker of 2022.
Verstappen beamed: “I’m really happy we finally kick-started the season.”
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