Real Reason Max Verstappen Gave Up Brazil GP Lead With Final Pit Stop

Reigning Formula 1 Champion, Max Verstappen, began the Brazilian Grand Prix from the pitlane after a power unit change, and if it wasn’t for a late pitstop, he could’ve perhaps won the race.

While leading, however, Red Bull decided to pit their Dutch star for fresher tyres, and despite still finishing in third place, many fans believe it was the wrong call to send him in to the pits for the extra stop.

The four-time champion surrendered the lead of the race after he stopped on Lap 55, rejoining in fourth place. Lando Norris, meanwhile, made his second stop five laps prior and the worry for Red Bull was that their no.1 driver would lose all pace heading into the final part of the Grand Prix.

Verstappen led the race by eight seconds once Norris had exited the pitlane following his stop. The Dutchman managed 16 laps on the medium tyre, but with the McLaren driver gaining 1.5 seconds on the Red Bull driver in just four laps, the team felt it was necessary to get their driver on new tyres.

Now on the soft tyre, Verstappen could chase down George Russell who was up in front of him. He managed to get past the Mercedes man, who was desperately trying to manage his brake temperatures. However, some impressive defensive driving from Kimi Antonelli resulted in Verstappen having to settle for third in the end.

Many believed that Verstappen could have finished second if he stayed on the medium tyres until the end of the race. Red Bull team principal, Laurent Meikes, however, insisted that the degradation of the tyres was too high, which was proven by the lap times.

Red Bull Explain Max Verstappen Pitstop Decision

“No, we don’t think it was winnable. We would probably never know where we would have finished, but obviously it’s a discussion that the guys had on the pitwall.

Whether Verstappen could have remained ahead of Antonelli if he had stayed with the medium tyre is ultimately difficult to say. The Mercedes driver was 12 seconds behind Verstappen when the Red Bull driver made his final stop and his pace was impeccable, going quicker than Norris on the C3’s at one stage.

The Italian was up 0.8 seconds in the last two laps of his stint on worn medium tyres compared to Verstappen. It is clear that the Mercedes would have got very close to the Red Bull had he stayed out to the end of the race on the mediums. While the thought of a second-placed finish would’ve been preferred, Verstappen can still be very happy with his performance after starting from the pitlane.