Max Verstappen won his 18th race in the Formula 1 season in the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Racing in Formula One
According to Jeroen Bleekemolen, Max Verstappen’s “cleverness” during the first safety car restart helped him win the 2023 Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix by giving him an advantage over Charles Leclerc to maintain his lead.
Verstappen led the race twice, but on Lap 37 in the Mojave desert, after starting from second on the grid. It was the Dutchman’s and Red Bull’s record-tying 18th victory of the race.
Bleekemolen, however, who competed in the Le Mans Series, the A1 Grand Prix, and the FIA GT Championship, feels that it wasn’t just his RB19 vehicle.
According to Bleekemolen, “He won this one mainly through cleverness,” in Bleekemolen told the Formula 1 Paddockpraat podcast, “He won this one mainly through cleverness.”
“While driving, he always keeps the overview [of the race] and thinks about this. That makes the difference. He really looked for the limit there [first safety car restart], because what he did is actually not allowed.
“The rule is that once you decide to go as the leader, you can’t get off the gas. The problem was that there was another turn coming up so you still had to slow down.
“The intent of that rule, though, is that you then take that turn as hard as you can. But he braked it one more time and Leclerc almost hit him, he was then blocked and at that moment Verstappen gave it gas and he was gone.”
Verstappen’s safety car grey areas
Verstappen has a history of taking advantage of safety car loopholes to outperform his competitors.
He would successfully close in on the leader before 2022, staying behind their front wheels. He would gain an advantage in the early corners and jeopardize their line at restart by doing this.
It was most famously witnessed at the notorious Abu Dhabi Grand Prix of 2021, where Verstappen passed Hamilton and won his first drivers’ championship after he had to take a narrow path through the last sector at the restart.
Following that race, the FIA decided Verstappen could not have predicted Hamilton slowing down, and as a result, the rules were changed to prohibit cars from lining up alongside a lead car at all. Verstappen briefly passed Hamilton at the 2021 restart.
When is the 2023 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix?
The 2023 Formula One season is almost coming to an end, but there are a few issues that need to be resolved in the United Arab Emirates, like whether Ferrari will surpass Mercedes to claim the second place in the constructors’ championship.
This weekend, November 24-26, is the Abu Dhabi. The race will begin at 17:00 local time, or 13:00 in the UK. The race will be broadcast live from Yas Marina to F1 fans in the USA at 8:00 EST and 5:00 PST.
