‘Go suck on an egg’: Verstappen answers critics with defiance; ‘remarkable’ Piastri perfect in P2
September 23rd, 2023 8:45 pm
The only question is whether any of those plucky rivals can fashion a way into the lead to force Verstappen to do a little more work for his inevitable prize.Verstappen has nothing to prove this season, with both championships well within his grasp, but that doesn’t mean he can’t be provoked. With Red Bull Racing getting its first realistic opportunity to claim the constructors championship in front of engine supplier Honda’s home crowd, motivation is high to seal the silverware in style.
If there’s one thing we’ve learnt about Oscar Piastri in his rookie season, it’s that you needn’t bother looking at his practice times to get a sense of how he’s going on a race weekend. Though it’s not surprising that a rookie driver would find big gains over his first two days at a track like Suzuka, his rate of progress surprised even McLaren principal Andrea Stella, who was again full of praise for the Aussie.
“While we have seen this before, I think doing this in Suzuka, which is a very technical circuit — and also we know how difficult it is to put laps together — this performance is not short of remarkable.” “Definitely we are in competition with Ferrari and Mercedes, and that‘s the race in normal circumstances for us.”
A car this good shouldn’t be stranded on the third row, even if Verstappen’s brilliance is contributing to some of the margin at the front of the field. But overtaking is difficult around Suzuka, and while the RB19 does have terrific race pace, Pérez was slower than Piastri down the straight and clearly showed no signs of Verstappen’s strengths during qualifying.
The fact we have at least three teams and perhaps even four in podium contention will make a sure-fire two-stop race a fascinating one.
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