Spa [Belgium], July 30 : With heavy rain hitting the Spa track as drivers were preparing for the Sprint start, it was decided by Race Control to run a number of laps behind the Safety Car in order to clear standing water.
Once the Safety Car had pulled in and the Sprint got underway with a rolling start, Piastri who would have taken a stunning P2 behind Verstappen in the Sprint Shootout earlier in the day dived immediately into the pits for intermediate tyres as Verstappen stayed out for an extra lap on his extreme wet rubber.
The championship leader subsequently came in at the end of Lap 1 for his own change Red Bull looking to avoid getting blocked by other cars given their position as the first garage in the pit lane.
As per the Formula 1 website Max Verstappen said, “We chose the safe option because that’s the annoying bit of being the first team at the beginning of the pit lane – if you would pit there’s a big chance of other people coming in and you are blocked and lose a spot to the car in second, especially because McLaren are in the middle of the pit lane more or less."
He added, “It was all under control, the car was quick, I was already on the radio for a few laps about that idea [of staying out for an extra lap], and we spoke about it before the race."
Verstappen said, “So we just stayed out. At least I had a clear vision. As soon as I saw Oscar's box, I knew that if he had a clean pit stop, he would be ahead of me, but I think it was the best thing to do for us at the end of the day."
“We came out and I saw immediately that we had a very good pace, so it was just a matter of time. I think when the Safety Car came out [for Alonso’s crash], that would have been the lap where I would have passed him already, but we just waited until after the Safety Car and everything was fine.”
“For me, it’s more about staying out of trouble Turn 1, Lap 1 and basically no damage on the car. If I have car that’s in a 100% state, I can win the race.”
Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez, meanwhile, retired from the Sprint after suffering damage from contact with Lewis Hamilton the Mexican set to start the Grand Prix in P2, alongside Charles Leclerc.
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