'The car was a real threat to the dominant Mercedes'

After Max Verstappen managed to overtake Valtteri Bottas at Imola last Sunday, the Dutchman seemed to have nothing more in the way of finishing second. However, that nice position was brutally taken away from him by a tyre blowout, which put him in the gravel and prevented him from continuing his race. But there is a bright spot.

Worked hard for

"Max Verstappen’s record of scoring a podium in every race he has seen the chequered flag in in 2020 remains intact," writes Lawrence Barretto in his article for Formula1.com. "However, rather than securing the second place he richly deserved and worked so hard for, the Dutchman ended up in the gravel after one of his tyres let go."

As a result, the gap between Verstappen and Bottas in the championship has widened, making it harder to finish second at the end of the season. With a difference of 35 points and four races to go, it seems to be over. Unless, of course, some really weird things happen to the Mercedes in the near future.

Real threat

It's not all bad news, Barretto: "but he can still take heart from the fact his RB16 was a genuine threat to the all-conquering Mercedes in terms of pure performance." And that is a good starting point, because Verstappen in combination with the RB16 is literally the only threat to Mercedes at the moment.

At least, for victories then, because in terms of constructors the team is already champion and Hamilton is no longer able to catch up with Verstappen. Nevertheless, Verstappen will be "glad to see the back of Italy, with his 2020 record in the country reading 3 races, 3 DNFs...,"not exactly a record to be happy with.