How Verstappen overcame his and Red Bull’s errors to bounce back in double-quick time
Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari engine disaster offered an open goal for Max Verstappen and Red Bull to strike, but the reigning Formula 1 world champion still had to solve multiple errors and profit from a begrudged assist from team-mate Sergio Perez, which created an unexpectedly eventful Spanish Grand Prix
Max Verstappen reckoned, albeit tongue in cheek, that he would need “45 races” to make up the lost ground to Charles Leclerc having retired from the Australian Grand Prix in early April. No, it wasn’t a mix-up with ‘four to five races’ in what might be a rejected premise for a Two Ronnies sketch. He said a full 45. Remarkably, the forecast proved pessimistic. For just three rounds after the Melbourne malady that left him 46 points adrift, the defending champion summitted the 2022 Formula 1 drivers’ standings for the first time.
That was the ultimate prize for winning a frenetic Spanish Grand Prix on a day when rival Leclerc copped his share of unreliability in the title fight between the pair.
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