Max Verstappen
Image Courtesy: Red Bull
Trending
Max Verstappen may have beaten Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg in qualifying to book a spot in the Q3, the start of the race saw a reversal of fortunes. Verstappen saw himself down in 13th place in the packing order, with plenty of faster cars ahead.However, a decision to stop for option tyres during the safety car period paid dividends, with the Dutch driver eventually finishing in fourth place.The only downside of his drive was breaking the speed limit during the safety car period and the resultant drive through penalty, something that prevented him from becoming F1’s youngest ever podium finisher.
Fernando Alonso
Image Courtesy: McLaren
A fifth place result was unthinkable of for McLaren-Honda, given their early season woes. And although Alonso himself admitted that luck played its part, the MP4-30/Honda package looked formidable on a track where outright power is not of paramount performance.Alonso moved up to 12th place by the end of the 1st lap and was in points-scoring position well before the safety car was deployed. The following chaotic laps allowed the Spaniard to move up the field, with the end result giving some satisfaction to a driver who pushed his car in qualifying with bare heads after its engine had stopped.
Daniil Kvyat
Image Courtesy: Red Bull
Although Daniil Kvyat’s performance wasn’t spectacular, he stayed out of trouble on a day when a certain world champion made a string of errors.Kvyat wasn’t as quick as Ricciardo and rebuffed orders from the team to let him through initially. From there on, he drove a calm and composed race with a career best second place finish being the reward.
This result might go some way in releasing the enormous pressure put on him for driving for an under-performing top team in only his second season in Formula 1.
Feedback
Edited by Staff Editor
