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Max Verstappen remains unperturbed by the permutations of crashing or having any on-track collisions with championship rival Lewis Hamilton at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Despite the fact that Verstappen has more to gain if his British rival crashes, he denied the need to opt for an aggressive approach in the race.
Speaking at the FIA Drivers' press conference, he explained his focus for the weekend and said:
“I honestly don’t think about it. I'm here to be focussed on just getting the best performance out of myself and the car, and we’ll see where we end up.”
The Dutchman was asked if he intended to take a more aggressive approach in the upcoming race weekend, since he had more to gain if his rival were to retire from the race or finish outside the top 5. Given the permutations of his chances at the title in Saudi Arabia, Verstappen denied the need to be aggressive or focus on what his rival was doing.
Max Verstappen hot on heels of Lewis Hamilton in FP1 of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
While Lewis Hamilton topped the time-sheets on the soft tire compound in the first practice session (FP1) of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, Max Verstappen wasn’t too far from the seven-time world champion. The Dutchman was a mere 0.056 seconds adrift off the Briton’s fastest lap on the same tire compound.
Max Verstappen was the quickest through the majority of the first practice session, on the hard tire compound. While the Dutchman was running different data collection and simulations on the soft compound, he was unable to improve his final attempt at a timed lap in the session, as he encountered traffic.
According to the championship mathematics, the 24-year old Verstappen gets his first shot at sealing the title at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
If Verstappen scores 18 points more than Hamilton at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, he seals the title this weekend itself. Should he fail to do so, the battle continues into the final race of the season, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
