Max Verstappen was on a mission at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix. Not even a pit-lane start and an early puncture could stop his charge to the podium.<\/p>\n
Red Bull has since discovered the cause of Verstappen\u2019s puncture. It was due to a piece of carbon fibre, says Red Bull senior advisor Helmut Marko, and there is a 50 per cent chance that Lewis Hamilton was the instigator, thanks to his collision with Franco Colapinto.<\/p>\n
Max Verstappen puncture may have come from Lewis Hamilton debris<\/p>\n
Eliminated in Q1 on pure pace for the first time in F1 career, Verstappen\u2019s Red Bull underwent \u201cdrastic\u201d changes<\/a> between qualifying and the Grand Prix at Interlagos. Setup changes were made, and a brand new Honda engine was bolted in. That forced a pit lane start for the Dutchman.<\/p>\n The result was a mesmerising drive to third; only the sublime defensive driving of Mercedes\u2019 Kimi Antonelli denied the reigning four-time world champion second.<\/p>\n On Grand Prix Sunday, Red Bull and Verstappen were able to overcome what Marko describes as the \u201cbiggest shortcoming\u201d of the RB21, by getting it back into its working window.<\/p>\n \u201cNaturally, many fans are now asking themselves: What worked for Max\u2019s car in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix that hadn\u2019t worked in qualifying?\u201d Marko began in his Speedweek column.<\/p>\n \u201cWe experimented with two different underbodies in Brazil, but in qualifying we fell out of the working window in which the car harmonises with the tyres. We don\u2019t know exactly why we fell out of this window.<\/p>\n \u201cGenerally speaking, we are referring to the biggest shortcoming of the RB21 racing car: the car has such a narrow working window that even the smallest changes have a major impact; we are talking about variations in ground clearance in the range of half a millimetre or a change in track temperature of a few degrees.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are not alone with this problem: Mercedes has struggled with it extensively this year, as has Ferrari.<\/p>\n \u201cThankfully, we managed to sort it out for the race, and that\u2019s what matters to me, as does the resurgence of the whole team after a really difficult phase in the summer.<\/p>\n \u201cBack to Sao Paulo: After making numerous changes to the car and installing a new engine, we decided with Max in Brazil to start from the pit lane. To be honest, I thought Max might finish between fifth and seventh place. But then he once again demonstrated his outstanding talent, and he might even have finished second.\u201d<\/p>\n Verstappen was forced into an early pit-stop after Red Bull detected a slow puncture.<\/p>\n It was a dramatic opening lap-and-a-bit at Interlagos, with Gabriel Bortoleto nosing into the wall at Turn 10, while Hamilton whacked the back of Franco Colapinto\u2019s Alpine going up the main straight. That cost Hamilton his front wing and inflicted enough floor damage to later force his retirement.<\/p>\n One of those incidents, Marko said, was the reason for Verstappen\u2019s misfortune.<\/p>\n \u201cTo make matters worse, we had a slow puncture,\u201d Marko continued. \u201cThat\u2019s why our strategy with the hard tyres didn\u2019t work out. We wanted to stay on the track much longer. And \u2013 unlike other drivers \u2013 Verstappen was driving at a good speed on the hard tyres.<\/p>\n \u201cSo the plan was to make up places when the drivers on soft or medium tyres all had to pit. We would have kept an eye on the wear to see if we could even get through with just one stop. But things turned out differently.<\/p>\n \u201cMax got a puncture from a piece of carbon fibre from colliding opponents, either from Lance Stroll against Gabriel Bortoleto, or Franco Colapinto against Lewis Hamilton.<\/p>\n \u201cFortunately, one of our data engineers noticed this and warned us immediately. We had a bit of luck with the Virtual Safety Car phase during the necessary tyre change.\u201d<\/p>\n More on Max Verstappen from PlanetF1.com<\/p>\n \ud83d\udc49 Max Verstappen won\u2019t go down without a fight<\/a><\/p>\n \ud83d\udc49 Max Verstappen v Lando Norris: Is the Red Bull driver still a threat or it is over?<\/a><\/p>\n As Marko reiterated that the Red Bull RB21 \u201cwas not in the working window in practice, but was in the Grand Prix\u201d, he asked: \u201cWhat can be learned from this for the remaining races in Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi?\u201d<\/p>\n The Red Bull senior advisor answered that question.<\/p>\n \u201cWe now know which underbody to continue using, and we also know which wing setting works best.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have therefore gained further insights for the remaining races, partly because Yuki Tsunoda\u2019s car retained its original configuration so that we could learn more about the RB21\u2019s set-up.\u201d<\/p>\n Understandably, there was a positive atmosphere surrounding Red Bull after Verstappen\u2019s latest Interlagos heroics, though in the grand scheme of things, it was potentially the scene of his F1 2025 title chances fading.<\/p>\n