Windsor: "He's a bit of a Verstappen fan, so we'll allow it"

Most of the Grand Prix of Emilia Romagna seemed to look good for Max Verstappen. Lewis Hamilton took the lead from Valtteri Bottas in an excellently timed pit stop during the Virtual Safety Car, but a second place seemed within reach. Peter Windsor is analyzing the race on his own channel.

“Prior to Lewis’ stop but after both Valtteri and Max’s stops, Valtteri still has margin enough, about two to three seconds to hold the lead. But at the same time, he’s being pushed very very hard by Max Verstappen”, Windsor explains on his YouTube channel.

The pressure was on for Valtteri

“Max runs wide coming out of Acqua Minerali, it’s not easy for him to do that”, Windsor continues. “He’s waiting for charge to come up on the Honda engine, things are not happening quite as he wants. But at the same time he’s able to put pressure on Valtteri, particularly under braking for the double apex left, right at the end of the lap.”

“For several laps Valtteri locks up and runs wide, and eventually does so. He runs wide, Max gets the tow, and he’s through. But by this time it is for P2, because Lewis Hamilton has come in for his switch on lap thirty for the hard tyre, when for a few seconds only, the Virtual Safety Car comes out. He comes in – absolutely perfect timing.”

Windsor continues: “Now at this point you could say, as a mate of mine: What does that mean at this stage of the race? Lewis Hamilton is the luckiest driver in the world. Now he’s a bit of a Max Verstappen fan, so we’ll make allowances for that.”