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Max Verstappen: Red Bull’s Calculated Gamble Amid McLaren’s Panic at Australian Grand Prix

Carl Harrison by Carl Harrison
March 16, 2025
in Motorsports
Reading Time: 2 mins read
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Max Verstappen: Red Bull’s Calculated Gamble Amid McLaren’s Panic at Australian Grand Prix

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 16: Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing looks on in the garage during the F1 Grand Prix of Australia at Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit on March 16, 2025 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202503160324 // Usage for editorial use only //

Max Verstappen, the top driver for Red Bull, has unraveled the high-stakes gamble his team took during the Australian Grand Prix. This daring move was triggered by a moment of chaos in the McLaren team, which gave Verstappen the opportunity to take the lead. Despite starting the race in third place on a rain-soaked Albert Park grid, behind a McLaren-dominated front row, Verstappen managed to secure the second position in the early laps. This was after a successful maneuver to overtake Oscar Piastri at Turn 2 right at the race’s outset.

Despite his stellar performance at last year’s wet Brazilian Grand Prix, Verstappen was unable to replicate it. A small error on his part, running too deep into Turn 11, allowed McLaren to recover the lost ground. As the race progressed, Verstappen began to lose traction with the McLaren drivers, who were pulling away. The Dutch driver expressed concerns to his team about his deteriorating tyres. However, with more rain on the forecast, he was instructed to persist, pushing his intermediate tyres to their limit.

This decision proved momentous. McLaren drivers, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, both fell victim to a tricky corner, sliding off the track. While Norris managed to regain his footing relatively quickly, Piastri slid off the track again and got stuck in the grass. With Norris leading but only by a whisker, he decided to pit. Verstappen, however, stayed the course, leading the race ahead of Lewis Hamilton.

As the rain intensified, Verstappen was in a dilemma over whether to pit. He was initially advised to stay out, but the decision was quickly revised. Returning to the race in second place after Norris, Verstappen managed to maintain this position until the end of the race.

Verstappen argues that even if he had pitted with Norris, the result would have remained unchanged. He would have still finished second. Discussing this crucial strategy, Verstappen said, “It started to rain a bit, they went off and it was a bit like a panic, like ‘oh, I need to box’. I stayed out.”

He further elaborated during the post-race press conference, stating, “I kept it clean and, when I saw Oscar rejoining, I was like, ‘Well, let’s stay out’, because it was only those three corners. The rest was still dry.”

However, there was a fleeting moment when second could have turned into first. Norris had a slip-up at Turn 6 on the second last lap, allowing Verstappen to close the gap significantly. However, the Dutchman was unable to overtake Norris and finished the race 0.9 seconds behind his title rival and friend.

Despite the intense competition, Verstappen found the experience fun, saying, “Those last laps here were pushing, at least, we were fighting for the win, but I’m just very happy to bring it home.” He left Melbourne with 18 points, a few more than Red Bull had hoped for after a tough Friday.

Verstappen acknowledged that despite their impressive performance, they still lagged behind McLaren. He said, “As soon as the tyres started to overheat, we had no chance and yeah, basically, McLaren just took off.” He concluded, “So we still have a lot of work to do to fight for a win. But I’m very happy that we are second here. It’s basically one place better than we should have been, and it’s 18 more points than I had last year at this track.”

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