In the fight for third place, Sebastian Vettel struggled with cold tires as Max Verstappen prepared for an attack – the German prevailed:
Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen delivered a good fight at the Chinese Grand Prix last Sunday and thus a great show for the fans. Ironically, in the hairpin, where the Red Bull driver Vettel cleared off a year ago, the two fought again wheel to wheel.
Verstappen was the first of the top pilots to change tires in lap 18, putting pressure on the Ferraris. The Scuderia reacted immediately by bringing Vettel in as well only one lap later. Already at the pit exit, Verstappen was very close to Vettel, who had to fight with cold tires. On the long straight with DRS Verstappen made his move to overtake.
How Vettel tricked Verstappen
Sebastian Vettel: “I saw him coming down the inside and I knew that he would try something so I was already trying to prepare the exit which worked well for me and into sixteen, the last corner, I wasn’t quite sure whether he would come back or not but it probably didn’t make sense for him so happy to stay ahead and from that point onwards I was able to pull away. The first lap, I think we got a bit unlucky after the stop with the McLaren. I wasn’t quite sure what the McLaren was doing and whether and where he would let me past so it allowed Max to be closer than the following laps.
At the official Press Conference after the race: Sebastian, there was an incident yesterday with Max Verstappen in qualifying. How did it feel to fight him today on the track?
SV: Well, yesterday was outside; today was inside! I think it’s very clear. Obviously, I went to see the Red Bull team after qualifying and they admitted a mistake by not telling Max, so I think he tried to put himself in a good place and he wasn’t aware of the clocking ticking down. Today had nothing to do with it.
Verstappen adds: “I had a nice fight with Seb, after that you could see that we didn’t really have the pace to fight them, but at least I tried and had a lot of fun.” For his hard work, the Dutchman was rewarded P4 and is still third in the championship rankings.
