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Three-time world champion Max Verstappen pulled off a brilliant save during the sprint shootout on Saturday (October 21) after he lost his RB19 in Turn 9.
It was a relatively straightforward day for the Red Bull driver as he started from the pole position in the sprint race on Saturday afternoon and claimed yet another race win in the sprint format. It was his third sprint win out of five races this season and possibly his easiest so far in terms of the margin he had over second-placed Lewis Hamilton.
However, it wasn't all plain sailing for the Dutch driver throughout the entire day as he had to pull off an incredible save during the sprint shootout and rescue his RB19 from crashing into the barriers. The move was reminiscent of McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who pulled off a similar save at the same corner on Friday (October 20) in the FP1 session.
Max Verstappen analyzes his sprint win on Saturday
The Red Bull driver emphasized the importance of getting a clean start from the box and resisting the challenge from Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in Turn 1.
After sustaining some initial pressure from Lewis Hamilton in the opening laps, Max Verstappen could pull ahead off the field and get another comfortable race win under his belt.
Speaking in a press conference afterwards, Verstappen analyzed:
"Yeah, the start was of course, important. It was not too bad, I think from pole here. Of course, it got quite close to Turn 1, but luckily Turn 1 is quite wide, so you can enter with a few cars if needed. And from there onwards, I think the first few laps, Lewis was pushing to stay in the DRS and trying to have a go."
The 26-year-old added:
"And once I basically cleared the DRS I just focused on my own pace and tried to look after the tyres. And I couldn't maintain basically that pace and I think that was quite important today."
Max Verstappen also pointed out that it is going to be a little difficult for him, starting from P6 for the main race on Sunday (October 22), to replicate the performance of the sprint race, adding:
"Starting in P6 tomorrow will be interesting, we'll try and stay out of trouble on the first lap and then we'll take it step by step making our way through the field. Hopefully, we can have some fun out there tomorrow."
