Breaking news
Formula 1 Japanese GP
Verstappen: Passing Hamilton impossible even without traffic
Max Verstappen believes he wouldn't have beaten Lewis Hamilton to victory in the Japanese Grand Prix even without losing time in the traffic late on.
Valentin Khorounzhiy
Edited: Oct 8, 2017, 11:18 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
The Dutchman was all over Hamilton on the penultimate lap of the Suzuka, as the race leader got bogged down behind the lapped McLaren of Fernando Alonso.
However, this proved a false dawn for Verstappen's victory hopes as he dropped time clearing Alonso himself, allowing Hamilton to establish a gap once more.
Verstappen was then held up by the lapped Williams of Felipe Massa - who Hamilton had gotten by with relative ease on the main straight – to end up 1.2s adrift at the chequered flag.
"I could see Lewis managing his tyres and, with traffic, it seemed difficult for him to follow other cars compared to me," Verstappen recalled.
"When you close up, you lose a lot of downforce. I couldn't really attack him, but I tried."
Asked whether losing time behind Alonso cost him the win, he said: "It didn't help, but it was more last lap with Massa.
"But I don't think I could get past Lewis, I could close up. It was not ideal but it wouldn't have made a difference."
Verstappen, who overtook teammate Daniel Ricciardo at the start and quickly moved past the hobbled Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel, couldn't match Hamilton's pace in the initial run on supersofts.
But, owing to a "better balance" on softs and despite a blistered tyre, he could stay in touch with Hamilton in the second stint, which enabled his late-race challenge.
"Once I got past Seb I could do my own thing. First stint was alright, Lewis was a bit faster and then on soft tyres we had a better balance.
"I didn't want to close up [to Hamilton] too much in case [that] destroyed my front tyres and I needed them at the end."
Alonso "tried not to bother anyone"
Meanwhile, Alonso, who was summoned to the stewards after the race over "ignoring blue flags", said he did his best not to interfere in the victory battle.
However, he also noted that he would accept whatever ruling the stewards reached, the Spaniard having finished outside of the points in 11th.
"They can do whatever they want. I don't have points anyway," Alonso said.
"I tried not to bother anyone. They [Hamilton and Verstappen] were first and second with two laps to go and they finished first and second so I don't think it was determinant for the race.
"But whatever they say, we'll accept it."
Additional reporting by Jonathan Noble
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Points gap to Vettel "unbelievable" - Hamilton
Next article Renewed confidence aids Bottas bid to overhaul Vettel
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Valentin Khorounzhiy
WTCR's April opener cancelled due to coronavirus
WTCR
WTCR
Hungaroring
WTCR's April opener cancelled due to coronavirus
Australian GP issues update on nine F1 paddock coronavirus tests
Formula 1
Formula 1
Australian GP
Australian GP issues update on nine F1 paddock coronavirus tests
Motorsport Games unveils 15 disciplines for 2020
General
General
Motorsport Games unveils 15 disciplines for 2020
More from
Felipe Massa
On this day: Michael Schumacher wins… and stuns tifosi with F1 retirement
Formula 1
Formula 1
Italian GP
On this day: Michael Schumacher wins… and stuns tifosi with F1 retirement
Defendant ordered to pay £250,000 legal fees in Felipe Massa F1 title case
Formula 1
Formula 1
Defendant ordered to pay £250,000 legal fees in Felipe Massa F1 title case
Felipe Massa’s F1 2008 lawsuit will proceed to trial
Formula 1
Formula 1
Las Vegas GP
Felipe Massa’s F1 2008 lawsuit will proceed to trial
More from
Red Bull Racing
How Max Verstappen beat Red Bull's own simulation tools with P2 in Brazil
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
5 h
How Max Verstappen beat Red Bull's own simulation tools with P2 in Brazil
Max Verstappen "needs to understand what happened" after "night and day" F1 comeback in Brazilian GP
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
19 h
Max Verstappen "needs to understand what happened" after "night and day" F1 comeback in Brazilian GP
Latest news
Noah Gragson apologizes to Daniel Suarez for spinning him at Homestead
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
8 min
Noah Gragson apologizes to Daniel Suarez for spinning him at Homestead
Ex-DTM champion Guven fails to clear Formula E license hurdle: What is Porsche doing?
DTM
DTM DTM 13 min
Ex-DTM champion Guven fails to clear Formula E license hurdle: What is Porsche doing?
Ferrari explains tyre pressure mistake in Monza WEC
WEC
WEC WEC
Monza
17 min
Ferrari explains tyre pressure mistake in Monza WEC
Winners and losers from a different NASCAR Cup finale at Homestead
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
29 min
Winners and losers from a different NASCAR Cup finale at Homestead
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe