New challenge in Monaco
“I had to sweat this one”. Max Verstappen at the end of the race in Imola, which he won by seven tenths of a margin over Lando Norris, he made no secret via radio that last Sunday was not the usual outing as has often happened recently in F1. Red Bull didn’t work with the hard tires not tested in free practice and with the medium tires Verstappen had already spent all the wildcards relating to the track limits to try to put as much margin as possible between himself and his pursuers. Verstappen found himself having to manage Norris’ comeback without being able to put the wheels beyond the white line and managed to avoid the prank that would have given the McLaren driver a second consecutive victory.
“I’m happy that Verstappen said he had to sweat it out – Norris declared to the microphones of Sky Sports UK on the occasion of the presentation of the McLaren livery dedicated to Senna for the Monaco weekend – it had been a while since he had any pressure and we’re finally making their life a little more difficult. I don’t want to sound overly confident or arrogant, but simply now we know that we can appear at the top and fight together with Red Bull and Ferrari.”
According to Norris, with one or two more laps he would have at least forced Verstappen to defend himself on the inside at the Tamburello braking point, thus perhaps triggering an error or the possibility of attacking the Dutchman at Villeneuve or at Tosa. From tomorrow the challenge between Verstappen and Norris will take place in Monaco, where practically all the drivers live but where only one grew up, Charles Leclerc. The challenge between the three in Qualifying will be exciting.
