Max Verstappen takes Hockenheim first turn flat out!

Mad Max Verstappen has claimed he took the first corner of the Hockenheimring flat out during his final hot lap in qualifying yesterday. We believe he is the first F1 driver in history to keep his toe down on this corner. 

In end, the Dutchman qualified 4th and will be the lone Red Bull with team-mate Daniel Ricciardo starting from the back of the grid. Verstappen went on to suggest he thought of taking turn 11, the entrance to the stadium, section flat out as well but couldn’t manage it. 

“I gave it everything I had. Into the stadium, I think Grosjean aborted his lap. So I wanted to take that corner flat, but I guess just having a bit of turbulence didn’t help. But - turn 1 was flat for example, so that was good,” he told motorsport. 

He then said he thought about doing it earlier but knew he had to protect his car to ensure a top 10 finish. 

“[I did it] once, my last one. You don’t want to smash your floor in Q1, so you just build up to it.” 

In the end, Verstappen finished 0.400 ahead of Haas driver Kevin Magnussen, but 0.300 behind Kimi Raikkonen. You can’t fault the man's bravery.