Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has explained the cause of the puncture Max Verstappen suffered early on in the Formula 1 Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The Dutchman started the race in the pit lane, having taken on a new power unit and alterations to his RB21, after a dismal qualifying session which saw him eliminated in Q1.
Verstappen began his afternoon at Interlagos on Hard tyres, but on Lap 6, during a Virtual Safety Car period – which followed a full Safety Car – was boxed for Mediums.
It initially appeared to be a less-than-obvious Red Bull game plan, but as it turned out, Verstappen was pitted for a slow-developing front-right deflation.
However, it did not halt Verstappen’s progress, as he soared through the field to take third place in the race, pitting a further two times.
Writing in his column for Speedweek, Marko revealed that even he underestimated Verstappen’s capability of climbing through the order.
“In Brazil, we decided with Max to start from the pit lane after making many changes to the car and fitting a new engine,” he wrote.
“Hand on heart, I had thought Max might finish somewhere between fifth and seventh. But once again, he showed his outstanding talent – and perhaps he could even have finished second.”
Marko thankful for VSC amid Verstappen’s required tyre change
Marko added that he was grateful the VSC was called when it was, as it did less to blunt the progress Verstappen had been making in his pits-to-podium charge.
“To make matters worse, we had a slow puncture,” he revealed. “That’s why our strategy with the hard tyre didn’t work out.
“We had planned to stay out much longer on track. And – unlike some other drivers – Verstappen had good pace on the Hard compound.
“The plan was therefore to make up positions when the drivers on Soft or Medium tyres had to come in for their pit stops.
“We were going to keep an eye on the wear, possibly even trying to get through the race with just one stop. But things turned out differently.
“Max picked up the puncture from a piece of carbon debris from other cars colliding – either from [Lance] Stroll against [Gabriel] Bortoleto or [Franco] Colapinto against [Lewis] Hamilton.
“Fortunately, one of our data engineers noticed it and warned us straight away. We had a bit of luck with the timing of the virtual Safety Car during the necessary tyre change.
“The behaviour of the Hard tyre in Brazil was a bit of a mystery: many rivals struggled with it, but Max was able to put in very competitive laps. All teams have found several times this year that the hard compound hasn’t performed as expected.”
READ MORE – Did Max Verstappen’s pit lane to podium heroics show a missed chance for Red Bull in Brazil?
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