Verstappen continues points scoring in Brazil: “P10 was the maximum”

Published on 15 November 2015 by Mike Motilall

Max Verstappen ended up in the points again, in six consecutive Grand Prix. A unique feat for the Scuderia Toro Rosso-driver, who, with the tenth place in Brazil, could add a heavily fought point to his tally. Nico Rosberg won the race ahead of his Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton and the Ferrari’s of both Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen.

“I am happy, in general it was a good race. The whole race, I gave it everything, and this was the maximum that there was. Realistically, there was not much more able with the long straights”, Max tells Verstappen.nl. “The first meters of my start, were not quite good, but the corners were. On the straights I didn’t stand a chance, so I was waiting for the others to make some kind of mistake.”

Still, Max showed once more that overtaking is an art, one he understands all too well. Especially when he passed Sergio Perez. “That moment when I overtook Perez, was my only chance. The top speed was an issue again today, but I knew that Perez was struggling with his tyres. I had a good exit out of the last corner and tried it from the outside at the end of the straight. We gave one another just enough space and the manoeuvre worked.”

Update: Three hours after the race, the FIA has announced that Felipe Massa, who crossed the finish line in eighth, will be excluded from the race results. The temperature of his right rear tyre, was too high at the start of the race. This means Max moves up a spot and is now ninth.

When the pack is let loose, after the lights go out on Autódromo José Carlos Pace, everybody makes a clean getaway, except for Sainz, who drops out halfway in the first lap. Valtteri Bottas is the one to gain a number of places as Max, side by side with Felipe Massa in his Williams, head into the first corners. It is the Dutchman who comes out victorious and keeps his ninth spot, but almost immediately needs to surrender his position to Sergie Perez. He passes the Toro Rosso in his Mercedes-driven Force India.

Yet, Max is able to keep up with Perez in his STR10, until his first pit stop in the twelfth lap, he is running in the wake of the Mexican. Despite the DRS-advantage, an overtake is not possible. After the change from the softs to the medium compound tyres, Perez, Verstappen and Romain Grosjean are like a mini train going round the track. When they all had done their pit stops, the threesome are in P9, P10 and P11.

In lap 32, Max creeps up on Perez and shows himself at the end of the straight, in the mirrors of the Force India. One lap later, Verstappen finally puts his foot down and eventually overtakes Perez on the outside in the Senna S. A daring and spectacular move from the young talent who snatches the ninth spot. Grosjean also sees an opportunity and overtakes the surprised Perez as well.

In the 35th lap, Max gets new mediums from the Toro Rosso pitbox and continues on, right ahead of Perez, who has stopped also. Maldonado, after being a bit too over enthusiastic and hitting Marcus Ericsson, is given a five seconds time penalty. In lap 41, Grosjean uses his Mercedes-power to pass Max on the straight on Interlagos.

When Max comes back in for the third time, in the 55th lap, and changes to the softs, he settles in and gets his head down. In no time, Verstappen is on Felipe Nasr’s tail and again the Dutch-talent pulls off what no one held for possible: in lap 59, Max overtakes Nasr on the outside in the first corner. This gives him the eleventh spot.

Max keeps pushing and starts to advance towards Maldonado. With three laps remaining, Max does his last overtake of the race. This time on the, more usual, inside of the Senna S, where he makes little work of the Lotus and claims the tenth spot, earning him the last remaining point.

At the front, there is little action to be seen during the entire race. Rosberg lead the dance from the word go and Hamilton meekly followed. The Ferarrri-duo had no answer to the Mercedes and the top four finishes in the order they started in.

Autódromo José Carlos Pace – Brazilian Grand Prix – Sunday 15 November 2015

 Race Results
 P Driver                 Team          Time 
 1 Nico Rosberg       GER Mercedes      1:31:09.090 
 2 Lewis Hamilton     GBR Mercedes      +7.756s 
 3 Sebastian Vettel   GER Ferrari       +14.244s 
 4 Kimi Raikkonen     FIN Ferrari       +47.543s 
 5 Valtteri Bottas    FIN Williams      +1 lap 
 6 Nico Hulkenberg    GER Force India   +1 lap 
 7 Daniil Kvyat       RUS Red Bull      +1 lap 
 - Felipe Massa       BRA Williams      +1 lap 
 8 Romain Grosjean    FRA Lotus         +1 lap 
 9 Max Verstappen     NED Toro Rosso    +1 lap 
10 Pastor Maldonado   VEN Lotus         +1 lap 
11 Daniel Ricciardo   AUS Red Bull      +1 lap 
12 Sergio Perez       MEX Force India   +1 lap 
13 Felipe Nasr        BRA Sauber        +1 lap 
14 Jenson Button      GBR McLaren       +1 lap 
15 Fernando Alonso    ESP McLaren       +1 lap 
16 Marcus Ericsson    SWE Sauber        +2 laps 
17 Will Stevens       GBR Marussia      +4 laps 
18 Alexander Rossi    USA Marussia      +4 laps 
NC Carlos Sainz       ESP Toro Rosso    DNF