Youngest ever victor takes out the Spanish Formula 1 Grand Prix.
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Max Verstappen of Red Bull became Formula One’s youngest race victor at age 18 with a victory at the Spanish Grand Prix after Mercedes teammates Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg crashed into each other on the first lap on Sunday. It was also Verstappen’s first race for the Red Bull team after he was drafted in from the Toro Rosso team, while Russian driver Daniil Kvyat was demoted. It’s a very big surprise. Today everything went well.
Max was followed by the Ferrari Scuderia duo: Kimi Raikkonen, who took the second spot, while Sebastian Vettel stood third. Verstappen’s teammate, Daniel Ricciardo, was fourth.
As Motorsport explains, Rosberg’s mistake was leaving his auto in a low-performance mode meant for low-speed maneuvering to and from the track, which reduced his car’s output by about 160 horsepower.
“I think what matters more is how we come out of the incident as a team”, he said. “What a great debut”.
It was only his second day racing for Red Bull after the surprise switch to the team. I could see that I had a better run through the corner. “Lewis was too aggressive to pass him and why should Nico give him room?” he said. He’s in the lead.
Each driver seemed to blame the other, without clear articulation of those feelings, during a clumsy staged news briefing that barely papered over the cracks in a team likely to face more pressure ahead from the improving Ferrari and Red Bull outfits. Each driver feels he is not entirely faultless, he said.
“We will continue to let them race”. In our opinion, there is not one to blame entirely. “From a team’s perspective we’ve looked at the pictures and the data and it’s not clear cut”. He said: “I am going away angry and upset but isn’t that what racing should be all about?” I would certainly have penalised the driver who made that mistake on the first lap. Nigel Mansell also won the first five races with Williams in 1992.
However, a sudden switch in engine mode saw Rosberg’s auto lose power, which saw Hamilton close up and try to pass on the inside leading up to Turn 4 but the German made a string move to the right to close the door, which forced the Briton on the grass and ultimately lose control of the vehicle and spin.
How it unfolded: Hamilton moved onto the grass to avoid an initial collision with Rosberg, but lost control.
“Coming out of Turn 3 I noticed I was down on engine power, which in hindsight is because I was in an incorrect mode”.
“I had part of my auto – my wing and wheel – alongside, but then had to take to the grass”.
The pair returned to the paddock on scooters and trudged up the stairs for a debrief with Mercedes team bosses, motorsport head Toto Wolff hot on their heels.
Stewards said they would investigate the incident.
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The German was back in his W07 after a wretched ending to his Spanish GP and covered 116 laps on the first of the two days of testing at the Barcelona circuit.
