On the Belgian Grand Prix every of the previous two seasons Max Verstappen took a grid penalty as Purple Bull modified elements on his race automotive.
Verstappen overcame these penalties to win in each 2022 and 2023.
As we and others have famous, 2024 will not be both of these seasons. The System 1 grid has modified, and the times of Purple Bull dominating the sphere — and Verstappen overcoming penalties with ease — are behind us. Verstappen was quickest on Saturday and that efficiency throughout qualifying led many to imagine that he would overcome the ten-place grid penalty, and P11 begin, within the Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday.
However that was not the case. Verstappen crossed the road fifth on Sunday and was promoted to fourth following the disqualification handed right down to George Russell following a post-race inspection. That restoration drive is a formidable end result to make certain given his beginning place, however one other reminder that his and Purple Bull’s days of dominance over the grid are within the rear-view mirror.
“The primary stint, I stayed out of hassle the primary few laps, received into that DRS prepare and mainly simply stayed there. Then we tried to do a pleasant undercut which I feel labored fairly effectively, however yeah the vehicles are all very related in tempo after which it’s simply very tough to maneuver up,” stated Verstappen after the race.
“So, I feel from P11 we did a great job. I feel trying on the championship it was a constructive day for me, after all you need extra however yeah with our tempo the previous couple of races, it’s not practical to assume we are able to go P11 all the way in which to the entrance once more,” added the Purple Bull driver. “These days are behind sadly. However we now have loads of issues to analyse over the break and see if we are able to enhance the automotive beginning already in Zandvoort.”
The outcomes noticed Verstappen prolong his lead over Lando Norris to 78 factors, because the Purple Bull driver banked 12 factors on Sunday, versus Norris’ ten. However issues are completely different on the Constructors’ facet of issues, as McLaren banked 28 factors on Sunday at Spa, in distinction to the 19 Purple Bull was in a position to placed on the board.
Because of this because the grid goes quiet for the summer season shutdown, McLaren is simply 42 factors behind Purple Bull. That reality would possibly result in some attention-grabbing discussions in Milton Keynes over the subsequent few weeks relating to the standing of Sergio Pérez alongside Verstappen.
“Fortunately it’s altering a bit of bit, so it’s not one explicit workforce that’s taking factors away however yeah, we all know we now have a bit of labor to do, we need to do higher and we’ll see what we are able to do,” concluded Verstappen on Sunday at Spa.
Can Purple Bull discover the solutions they’re looking for? How that query will get answered will go a good distance towards writing the ultimate chapter of what’s turning into a legendary F1 season.
