In the round-up: Red Bull’s chief of car engineering Paul Monaghan says Max Verstappen drives with more confidence after his hard-fought 2021 championship campaign.
In brief
Verstappen has “mythical armour”
Monaghan sees “a phenomenal inner strength” in Verstappen, who is chasing his fourth consecutive world championship since winning the 2021 title in a season peppered with clashes between him and Lewis Hamilton.
“There’s a sort of mythical armour, if you like,” Monaghan told the official F1 channel. “Not much is going to derail him.
“His confidence has built. He’s, I think, driving with a great deal more assuredness now than, say, ’21. We got tangled up with Lewis a few times, didn’t we? Now nothing much fazes him, does it?”
Monaghan believes Verstappen’s victory that year has allowed him to rely on his strengths as a driver. “He’s gone from someone who had an expectation, a belief and a confidence to someone who has realised that expectation and is now one of the very best we’ll see, I suspect.”
Hungaroring adds track limits fixes
The Hungaroring operators have made changes at two corners to enforce track limits this year. A 2.5 metre wide strip of grass has been added at the exit of turn five and a strip of gravel measuring the same width has been installed at turn 12.
Robb burned finger in 109G crash
Sting Ray Robb revealed he passed out after suffering a 109G impact when he was launched into the air after colliding with Alexander Rossi at the end of Sunday’s second IndyCar race in Iowa. However his injuries were light.
“The worst injury I got was on my finger,” he explained. “I touched the halo [in the Aeroscreen] getting out of the car.
“It turns out when you take titanium and scrape it across the ground for a few hundred feet, it gets hot. Don’t recommend. Lesson learned. You’ll get a blister from touching hot titanium there.”
Sowery returns to Coyne
Toby Sowery will make two further starts for Coyne in their number 51 car. He will drive at Toronto this weekend and Portland next month.
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