Max Verstappen has revealed the detail that transcended his slim title hopes into a realistic chance at securing a fifth successive Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship.
Initially reduced to a supporting role early in this season’s title race, Verstappen’s wins in Imola and Suzuka were achieved with a car that lacked consistency.
Now back in the fight with the once-dominant McLaren drivers, the floor upgrade introduced at the Italian Grand Prix is credited with his competitive surge in the second half.
However, immense work behind the scenes, including engineers’ actioning his feedback on car set-up, played an equal part in turning his outside title chances into a credible challenge.
Arriving at this point has not been easy, however, as the experimentation with setups yielded few results, with early-season upgrades compounding initial struggles to extract performance.
“We tried a lot of things, and a lot of them did not work,” Verstappen revealed to media, including Motorsport Week.
“The upgrades made it possible to run the car in a different configuration, and these cars are super sensitive.
“So if you are sliding a bit less, the tyres also work a bit better, and that gives you better race pace.”
Missing pieces of the puzzle come together
Once the much-vaunted floor upgrade arrived, Verstappen confirmed that, when combined with set-up experimentation, the car transformed into a beast almost overnight.
“So there were a lot of things that just came together, which suddenly unlocked quite a bit more pace within the car,” he said.
“Naturally, that gives me a bit more confidence, and it allowed us to set up the car a little bit more aggressively, a bit more on the nose and without losing the rear, and that’s exactly what you want.”
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