Verstappen put Leclerc in “checkmate” – Horner

2019 Austrian Grand Prix

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Christian Horner says Max Verstappen put Charles Leclerc in “checkmate” with the controversial, race-winning pass which saw the two make contact.

Verstappen has been confirmed as the race winner following a stewards’ investigation into the incident. Horner says his driver had “won the corner” and put Leclerc in a position where he had to back down.

“He came from further back, he out-braked him,” said Horner. “If you look he was ahead at the apex and at that point hes won the corner. It’s the other guy to back out of it and try the undercut.

“Otherwise, at that point it’s slam-dunk, it’s checkmate, he’s got the corner. And that’s obviously the way the stewards saw it.”

Despite an anxious wait of several hours for a ruling on the move, Horner said the team had no doubt Verstappen’s pass was legal.

“We were completely convinced that it was OK. And then of course it goes to the stewards, at that point you don’t know.

“But I think Tom Kristensen and the stewards who were up there today have made exactly the right choice. One day it’ll go against us but I think it was fair racing, it was hard racing, it’s what Formula 1 should be.

Horner said the team didn’t instruct Verstappen to pick up his pace after the incident to ensure he had a five-second gap over Leclerc in case he was penalised.

“He got his head down,” said Horner. “The Ferrari’s very quick in a straight line and he didn’t want to be in a position where Charles could get the DRS on him.”

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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24 comments on “Verstappen put Leclerc in “checkmate” – Horner”

  1. Leclerc left the space, Verstappen braked later to take the corner on the inside and came round the corner first, perfectly positioned. AKA ‘racing.’

    1. “AKA ‘racing'”. Real issue is, that there was an actual issue and investigation open. While it was a clear racing incident.

      1. As soon as an official complaint is made by a team, Ferrari in this case, the stewards have to look at it. They could decide quickly or take ages like today, but they have to take note. That’s just how it is at the moment (could and perhaps should be changed in the future of course).

      2. @jeffreyj I’m in favour of race stewards, or the race director maybe, deciding these issues quickly, within a few corners if possible, whether or not they are referred, and those decisions being binding. Appeals should be like in football: you can have a post-race penalty quashed (like a grid penalty, fine, or race ban for the next race) but the race result stands. At some point teams have to accept (a) the good faith of stewards, (b) they can make mistakes or have very different viewpoints, and (c) the sport cannot erode the good will of fans by continually holding in suspension race results for hours or even days after the race is over.

  2. GtisBetter (@)
    30th June 2019, 20:46

    I still don’t get why Leclerc didn’t defend the inside, especially after the try from Verstappen one lap before.

    1. let me give you the answer for that: Leclerc is not a very intelligent driver, that’s how I see it. Any race driver with a brain would at least cover part of the inside line, so that no one could attempt a move on the inside.

    2. @passingisoverrated
      Because the outside line worked the lap before. The difference was Verstappen knew that too, so he changed his approach. Very clever driving from Verstappen to slow it down enough so he could nerf Leclerc off wheel-to-wheel rather than pulling ahead and risking wheel-to-sidepod or having to leave room.

      1. To answer the question more directly, if he had covered the inside Verstappen would have cut back with better traction and DRS and probably had a slam dunk, like he did against Vettel.

    3. Max sold him the dummy on the outside, he went to defend that. Then it was all to late, classic Verstappen move, then banging wheels. Senna would be proud.

  3. What said Karun Chandhok today?

    1. GtisBetter (@)
      30th June 2019, 21:06

      Here’s my view… Back in the day, the driver on the outside would have to back out and realise when he’s been beaten. Now, they can keep going, knowing that they can use the asphalt run off and then hope that the argument about “being squeezed off” wins in the stewards room….

      1. Precisely. A good tactic especially when you are about .5 sec per lap slower, your opponent in your neck and 3 laps to go.

  4. Except the cars were straight when he bashed the ferrari off course, or Max should have been straight, as the stewards said he was completely in control and he is literally wheel to wheel with another car. That means the corner is over by all objective reasoning and you gotta give space. All I saw was a low skill amateur barge pass that got rewarded. If I were leclerc I would be savoring my opportunity to return the favor knowing drivers can now run other drivers off course because they feel like it and have it be okay.

    1. “now”?

      Let’s keep it real at least inhere. Drivers on the inside have been running drivers on the outside out of racing room when exiting corners for decades. Literally an accepted move in pretty much all races in all racing series.

      Sole exception when driver on the outside is clearly ahead on corner exit, which was not the case.

      It’s honestly beyond me why this is now suddenly a point of contention.

    2. @Mitch You should review who ‘bashed’ into who. You will find it was CL that hit Max, by his own choice. Max only ever steers right when the collision occurs. It is CL that turns into him which at that millisecond could have only resulted in contact.

  5. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
    30th June 2019, 23:17

    More like Leclerc was checkmated by the stewards.

    Obviously one of the stewards clearly thought it was a penalty and it took 3 hours to find a way to spin this into a non-penalty. The explanation is ridiculous.

    Max just had to give him some space or at least pretend to give some space but his IQ must be in double digits…

    Stewards must hate him.

    1. @freelittlebirds no, not 3 hours, not by a long shot, since they only started deliberation past 6PM.
      Max didn’t need to give him anything. This is what happens in racing. Every race in every series you see this manoeuvre, never punished.

    2. @freelittlebirds

      Why should max give him space when the maneuver was already done?

      1. already done? Where ? They were side by side .. but agree, correct decision by the stewards, hard racing should be allow. But then I have this question, why was Magnussen penalized with 5 sec in Hungary 2017 ?
        he did exactly the same thing as Max, left no space in the outside for a another car when they were side by side

        1. @paulo-gomes differences, to me:
          1. Hulk was ahead
          2. Magnussen didn’t take the racing line, he drifted way off with the sole purpose of driving Hulk off track

          Both items are key for the penalty back then and were not true yesterday.

  6. Any comments on the visible brake dust from Verstappen’s car.?
    My understanding is that this is an indication of terminal overheating and “The end is neigh…”.

    1. Nah, it is a sign of brakes heating up significantly but it doesn’t equal near failure. During this race I saw Gasly’s breakdust when fighting with Norris and Raikkonen in the opening phase of the race and I saw it at both Hamilton and Vettel later on as well.

  7. Wow look at the brake dust from Verstappen!

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