Brundle impressed by one specific key aspect of Verstappen at Spa

07:25, 29 Jul

Updated: 09:26, 29 Jul

byEstéban den Toom

Martin Brundle had words of praise following the race weekend at Spa-Francorchamps. The Sky Sports analyst was particularly impressed by one key aspect of the Red Bull driver’s performance.

Despite missing out on the podium in Sunday’s Grand Prix, Martin Brundle still had words of praise for Max Verstappen, who can take solace in his Sprint Race victory against a McLaren that once again looked stronger—even in Belgium.

''Max Verstappen once again did a great job of mentally parking all the noise around his team and won the Sprint race on Saturday morning for the 12th time,'' Brundle started in his analysis for Sky Sports.

The low-downforce setup chosen on his RB21 for the Sprint proved to be a winning card for the Dutchman, with both Piastri and Norris unable to respond—despite having a faster car and fresher tyres.

''He set his car up with strong straight-line speed to slipstream his way into the lead at the Les Combes chicane and then defend from there,'' the Brit added.

''But to make that possible he had to be near the front of the Sprint grid by still carrying speed in super-fast corners despite less downforce, which he duly did. That takes a lot of bravery and skill.''

Max Verstappen at Spa

Verstappen's advantage evaporated on Sunday

Verstappen was left frustrated by the FIA’s decision to delay the start of the race, especially after tailoring his RB21’s setup specifically for wet conditions.

As the track dried, that potential advantage quickly evaporated. Martin Brundle noted that the car’s configuration significantly limited Verstappen’s ability to fight his way through the field, reducing his chances of overtaking rivals.

''Having paid a heavy price at Silverstone with a similar low downforce set up for qualifying but then facing a lot of rain on race day, for the main race qualifying in Spa, Red Bull elected to carry more downforce and this would confine Max to fourth on Sunday because their car seems to be less efficient and driveable in this configuration.''

''And his ability to breeze past people on the long climb to Les Combes had evaporated,'' Brundle concluded.