Max Verstappen Didn’t Really Deserve To Win Spanish Grand Prix

Max Verstappen has been catapulted from the familiar fog anonymity into the limelight after winning the Spanish Grand Prix at the precocious age of 18.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hr0sJG_Dbrk

Not to take anything away from the young buck (he’s definitely a young boss on the come up) but a pretty unbelievable series of events had to transpire for him to walk away with first place, not the least of which was the Lewis Hamilton-Nico Rosberg crash.

Without the Mercedes drivers taking each other out of the race, Verstappen probably doesn’t win the race.

But a wise man once said, “luck is where preparation and opportunity meet.”

And Verstappen certainly prepared.

I watched a lot of videos the evening before the race to see what moves worked in Spain. Maldonado’s win showed me how important the exit in the last corner before the straight was. So I used that one.

Max Verstappen

With Mercedes out of the picture, Ferrari had an opportunity to go for the jugular. But they didn’t. Perhaps it was the presence of Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne in the stands that had Ferrari’s drivers feelin’ some type of way. Whatever the case, they didn’t hold Verstappen’s feet the fire.

Instead they drove scared.

Exercising caution in front of the boss was not a good look. I get that they wanted to avoid making mistakes in front of the big man, but instead they came off as a team lacking confidence and ability.

Without Mercedes and Ferrari leaving the door wide open, Verstappen wouldn’t have been in a position to win.

But he did.

He saw his opportunity and played it perfectly.

Formula 1 fan “SkitTrick” offered a few words of wisdom on the series of events that ultimately led to Verstappen winning the Spanish GP,

The situation defeated any sort of rational analysis, or rather any prediction based on precedent. He really has wiped his arse with the pages of both the rule book and the record book. You couldn’t have possibly seen it coming.

SkitTrick, Formula 1 fan

Well played, Verstappen. They gave you an inch and you took a mile.