Max Verstappen’s stunning opening lap that teed him up for victory in Brazil has been hailed as every bit as good as Ayrton Senna’s famous Donington Park 1993 opener.
The Red Bull driver, whose shock win from 17th on the grid has put him in reach of another world title, gained six places through the opening three corners thanks to a combination of great car positioning and clinical overtaking attempts.
With Alex Albon and Lance Stroll unable to take up their grid positions after crashes in qualifying and on the formation lap, Verstappen passed four other drivers and climbed to 11th, right behind Lewis Hamilton, by the end of the opening lap.
Then he moved himself into the top 10 almost straight after when he dived past his Mercedes rival under braking for Turn 1 at the start of the second lap.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner likened the effortless way that Verstappen was able to slice his way through the field as akin to what Senna did at the European Grand Prix in 1993.
Ayrton Senna, McLaren MP4-8 Ford, waves a Brazilian flag in celebration in front of Damon Hill, Williams FW15C Renault.
Photo by: Motorsport Images
That day in 1993…
Senna’s opening lap that day, which has been labelled the greatest in F1 history, came after he started fourth – briefly lost a position to Michael Schumacher before gaining it back – and then muscled his way past Karl Wendlinger, Damon Hill and Alain Prost to lead by the end of the lap.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner believed F1 witnessed something just as special in Brazil, as he praised the way Verstappen bounced back from a deeply frustrating qualifying that left him knocked out in Q2.
“Today was an emotional roller coaster because we knew we had a good car,” said Horner. “Max’s mental strength and attitude to deal with that is outstanding, and I thought his start today was electric.
“That first lap was up there with Donington ’93, around the outside of Turn 3. I think he passed six cars on the first lap.
“Then he was the only car that was really making progress, being able to pick cars off – and so late on the brakes into Turn 1.
“Whether it was with Lewis, with Oscar Piastri, and then obviously at the restart with Esteban [Ocon]. And then he just controlled the race and pulled away with ease, at sometimes one second per lap.
“So, on a pretty dreary day, he shone pretty brightly today.”
Esteban Ocon, Alpine A524, Max Verstappen,…
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