Verstappen's corner secret: 'Max is an early braker'

Max Verstappen is seen by many as the fastest driver of this generation. The Dutchman seems to be at one with his RB19 and at the moment no one seems to be able to beat him. In his analysis on his YouTube channel, Peter Windsor explains what Max does to get back up to speed as quickly as possible after a corner.

Misconception about thinking drivers

It is logical to think that drivers are mainly concerned with being fast in the corners. According to Windsor, the situation is different: "There is as much time to be found between the corners as in them. In other words, it's the straights that the great drivers are thinking about when they approach a corner, not necessarily the corner. And I make that point because particularly now with the advent of so much telemetry and graphics on screen, there's so much emphasis on high minimum speeds on breaking points on who's breaking latest into any given corner, who's perhaps getting on the power. But in reality, in my opinion, those graphics tend to confuse the real situation."

'Max is an early braker'

As far as Verstappen is concerned, it's not about braking late on a corner. "Of course, he's going to brake as late as the feel of the car allows him to brake. But his number one priority always is to touch the brakes a fraction in order to get the weight on the front of the car to get the car stable. But to repeat the point, he's not focused on breaking as late as possible. What Max is looking at is the rotation point. And that's why I often say, you know, Max is an early break up because the reality is he's probably just touching the brakes quite early just to get the car settled to get the front down before he's breaking really hard," Windsor stated. According to the Briton, the Dutchman makes the corner as short as possible, and the straight as long as possible, as this ensures he is on speed for longer.