How Piastri Beat Verstappen at His Own Game Explained

oscar Pastri finally got his first taste of racing with Max wheelto-wheel for a Grand Prix win And rather predictably the controversy started right from the moment the light went out Oscar got a fantastic launch off the line especially if you consider that he was starting on the dirty side of the grid and most of the cars behind him weren't able to get as good start as he did Going into the corner Oscar's launch allowed him to get ahead of Max and then he was also ahead at the apex of turn one Being the car on

the outside in that situation is always going to be more difficult because you're basically at the mercy of how much space the car on the inside who has the right to the corner wants to leave you realistically Even though Max going into the corner had already lost the battle he decided then to roll off the brakes a lot earlier carrying much more speed through the corner However by doing so and with Oscar on his inside taking up most of the track by claiming the corner he was carrying way too much speed and his steering was

also almost on full lock meaning that at that point he was only going to go one way and that was off the track The irony is is that we have seen this move countless times over the past decade because Oscar did to Max exactly what Max has been doing to other drivers for years now Once he claimed the corner by reaching the apex first he then purposefully ran max out of room But crucially he was still in control of his car and made the corner himself and stayed on track doing so To me right from

the launch this was actually more great racecraft by Oscar than some horrendous mistake by Max And I feel that as much as Max might be the one getting all of the headlines I think it's important to shift the narrative and actually give Oscar the credit he deserves for nailing the start against Max which is what ultimately won him the race The mistake that I think Max made was firstly getting a poor start from pole position and the clean side of the grid which no one has mentioned but also just not being able to accept that

he was beat Oscar jumped Max at the line He was ahead of Max at the apex He braked very late but still crucially was able to stay on track doing so And to me Oscar rightfully should have been the driver to leave turn one ahead because through that first sequence of corners he did a better job than Max in wheelto-wheel combat And now post race Oscar said something very interesting that I think makes it crystal clear how Max's racing throughout the years has dictated the way the other drivers now know that they have to race

him as well Oscar said "I knew I had to be firm because I knew if it was rolls reversed it probably would have looked identical I have said multiple times that I feel like in 2021 Max patented a new style of racing it was all about get to the apex first and then as long as you do that regardless of where the other car is then you won't need to leave any space for the car on the outside because you'll just be able to run them wide and potentially even off the track." That is exactly

what Max did then It's exactly what other drivers have been doing since then And it's exactly what Oscar did to Max in Jeda After the incident Max and Red Bull felt as though they did nothing wrong and allowed Max to extend his advantage in clean air This was actually something that the stewards mentioned in their verdict because not only did they say that telemetry showed that Max basically went flat out when he was off the track to maintain the position on the exit but when he was then out in front he made no attempt to

let Oscar even catch up just a little bit to give back some of the advantage that he gained In the end the Stewarts gave Max a 5-second time penalty which he had to serve during his pit stop And we have seen this throughout the season that qualifying track position and clean air is absolutely everything This is the first race of the season where someone has won from outside the pole position And realistically the only reason that this happened is because Max got a bad start If Max got even a decent start and stayed ahead of

Oscar going out of the apex and into turn one with clean air for the rest of the race there is zero doubt in my mind that he would have gone on to take the race win because even when he was out in front during the opening stint Oscar himself said that his tires were overheating just trying to keep up with Max Vstappen And straight away there was never even a chance of him being able to overtake Max even with DRS After the race Oscar and McLaren were firm that they had done everything right and that

Oscar not only claimed the corner but that he also should have been given the position back by Red Bull on track in the same way that Lando gave the position back to Lewis Hamilton in Bahrain when he overtook him off track at turn four Max purposefully said nothing after the race because he knew that there was nothing to gain and everything to lose for him as a driver However the real fun and games began when her showed up to his media session with what he felt was brand new evidence He showed the media a still

image of Max's onboard from the shoulder cam that the FIA didn't have access to But to me this was really confusing because this was actually a little bit after the Apex when Max was rolling off the brakes And if you're going into a corner too fast it's not entirely difficult to find a still frame of you marginally ahead compared to someone who's judged they're breaking right at the apex But the point that Horner didn't really acknowledge is that yes Max was able to get back marginally ahead But because of it he missed the following corner

entirely and maintained an advantage that he didn't have going into the previous apex And now although the battle at turn one is the thing that everyone is going to be talking about after this race for me the most important conversation is how Pastry established himself as the title favorite and also how he was able to fight Max wheelto-wheel and show absolutely no signs of weakness that Max can exploit in the future Oscar Pastry in that McLaren this weekend wasn't the fastest driver throughout practice and early qualifying Lando seemed to have the edge over Oscar and

Max by virtue of his pole position and incredible pace in clean air was also a faster driver Despite all of that Pastri still found a way to win the race and take home all 25 points and more importantly the lead in the drivers championship for the first time this season Even though he wasn't faster than Lando he kept cool making no mistakes and was fast enough to be on the front row And although he wasn't faster than Max he beat Max off the line and also in will combat to deserve the race lead and just

controlled the race perfectly in clean air to the end On a weekend where he wasn't the fastest he executed every element of the weekend well enough compared to the other drivers and some elements even better when he needed to And to me being able to win races on days where you're not at your best that is the hallmark of a world champion Max Vstappen is easily one of the greatest drivers and one of the biggest challenges that the other drivers have ever had to face in Formula 1 because he has tried to intimidate the likes

of Hamilton,lair and Norris on the track which is what hard racing is all about And given that this was basically the first time that we have ever seen Oscar and Max go headto-head for a Grand Prix win and not only did Oscar handle Max as well as I have ever seen anyone handle Max but he also sent a very clear message to Max that he is more than capable of playing him at his own game and coming out on top Max and Lewis always seemed like the unstoppable force meeting the immovable object And I think

Max has realized that Oscar is going to be the exact same The difference now however compared to last year is that Oscar is the one with the points advantage over Max And so Max just can't drive him off the road like he did with Lando because for once it is Max who's got more to lose than the other drivers And now it's impossible to ignore however what was yet another bad weekend for Lando Norris and yet another recovery drive that really should have been so much more The signs are now there that Lando is not

only struggling to deal with the pressure but that it's also now starting to affect his judgments The crash on the Saturday was just a classic example of pushing too hard around a street track But even then in the race yet again his race craft just wasn't good enough In bar rain I was very critical that too many times he tried to overtake people into turn one when what he should have been doing is what everyone else was doing which was using turn one to set the car up for the best overtaking opportunity which was into

turn four In Jedda against Hamilton we saw the same exact weaknesses all over again And even Andrea Stellar after the race said as much Two laps in a row he overtook Hamilton into the final corner only for Lewis to get DRS back and re-overtake him into turn one which was by far the best corner for overtaking It feels like the mistakes pressure and mounting points difference between him and Oscar are starting to cloud his judgment in basic wheelto-heill situations More than anyone else Lando really needs this next week off to mentally reset and just relax

before Miami with the right people around him Because on the other side of the garage Oscar this weekend despite not being the fastest driver mentally delivered a hammer blow against Lando and Max in different ways And given his lack of experience of only competing in 51 Grand Prix wins and this genuinely being his first ever title battle in only his third year of Formula 1 it's scary to think that both on and off the track he looks like a driver who has already won multiple championships Well there you have it If you did enjoy this

video then don't forget to subscribe to the channel That would be massively appreciated And I'll see you in the next one