Lap 11, Verstappen makes a move at T3 to prepare an attack on Leclerc.
Using a cross-line maneuver, Verstappen even managed to go wheel-to-wheel with Leclerc on the short straight between T3 and T4, with his car’s nose slightly ahead.
At that moment, all the staff in the Ferrari team’s pit box instinctively tensed up.
Fortunately, Leclerc firmly held the inside line, using the advantage of being on the inside at T4 to secure his line, preventing Verstappen from overtaking him.
Leclerc even slightly squeezed Verstappen for space as they exited the corner.
Either you get pushed out of bounds, or you slow down and brake.
Verstappen chose the latter.
Being pushed out of bounds, the curbs could potentially damage the car’s underbody.
Damage to the underbody would cause speed loss, which can’t be made up with the mere fraction of a second lost by braking.
This braking from Verstappen inevitably disrupted his rhythm, and he lost significant speed exiting the corner.
When both cars entered T5, the gap had widened from 0.2 seconds to 0.7 seconds.
Vettel, who was lurking behind Verstappen, seized this rare opportunity and launched an attack on Verstappen.
Unfortunately, the attack didn’t yield much success.
Even though Ferrari had a top speed advantage, Verstappen had gained DRS from Leclerc ahead at the DRS detection zone.
Vettel didn’t have the DRS boost, so on this straight, Verstappen was faster than Vettel, and Vettel couldn’t overtake Verstappen.
However, it’s worth mentioning that with Vettel’s attack, Verstappen took the inside line to prevent Vettel from making a late braking maneuver to the inside, costing him at least another 0.2 seconds in speed, which relieved a lot of pressure off Leclerc.
While all eyes were on Ferrari and Red Bull, Haas’s two cars quietly retired, and the director didn’t even give them much screen time.
Lap 14, Verstappen and Leclerc both went into the pits.
Originally, Leclerc was in front, and Verstappen was behind.
But during the tire change, Qin Miao watched in shock as Ferrari’s front left tire changer fumbled a bit, while Verstappen’s tire change was almost perfect.
When the two cars exited the pit lane, Ferrari and Red Bull had a wheel-to-wheel moment in the pit lane.
For such a situation, the Ferrari tire changer definitely deserves the blame.
As Verstappen was positioned on the right, his car nose even slightly ahead of Leclerc.
With the next turn being a right-hand corner, it was an advantageous turn for Verstappen.
Hence, after exiting the pit lane, Verstappen naturally took fourth place.
The reason he took fourth was mainly that Vettel, who was behind the two, hadn’t pitted for a tire change.
After seeing this, Qin Miao’s blood pressure instantly rose.
But right after exiting the pit lane and coming to T2, Verstappen made an error as his tires hadn’t warmed up, going wide.
Leclerc quickly seized this opportunity and reclaimed the position.
Drivers pay for the mistakes of the pit crew.
Afterwards, the two cars engaged in a five-lap long battle on the track.
Leclerc defended meticulously, not giving Verstappen any chance to overtake him, and their exciting duel captured most of the on-site cameras.
Their battle continued until lap 20, when Giovinazzi, running in ninth, lost control at T18 after hitting the curb and skidded into the gravel.
Giovinazzi was stuck in the gravel, so the race director decisively deployed a physical safety car.
Shadowing Leclerc, Verstappen took the opportunity to pit during the safety car period and switched to hard tires, aiming to run to the finish. Discover more novels at novel(ꜰ)ire.net
On the Ferrari side, Leclerc asked the team if he should pit, but the team didn’t instruct him to pit immediately.
When the strategy team calculated that they needed another pit stop, Leclerc had already missed the optimal pit window, forcing him to pit only after running a lap behind the safety car.
When he re-emerged, he was already behind Verstappen.
All the defending over the past twenty laps was in vain.
The Ferrari team stabbed Leclerc in the back once again.
Lap 24, the safety car left the track, and the race resumed.
It was followed by a relatively quiet period.
Lap 28, Gasly, positioned ahead of Verstappen, received the team order to give up fourth to his teammate, and he went to defend from Leclerc in sixth.
Lap 36, Leclerc, who had been chasing Gasly for a full eight laps, finally found an opportunity at T3 this lap, forcing an aggressive move on the outside line.
Using his top speed advantage, he blocked Gasly’s exit line while running on the outside, and both cars entered T4 wheel-to-wheel.
T4 was another right-hand turn, which was an advantageous corner for Leclerc, who had taken the outside at T3.
Finally, Leclerc executed a clean and beautifully executed overtake in T4.