How Verstappen surpassed fastest F1 cars in history

Grand Prix in Italy

Date: 7 September Race start time: 14:00 BST on Sunday

The lap with which Max Verstappen set a new all-time Formula 1 record on his way to pole position at the Grand Prix in Italy surpassed the performance of the cars still considered the fastest in the sport’s history.

Lando Norris of Verstappen and McLaren broke Lewis Hamilton’s previous record at the same race in 2020.

These cars generally hold the lap records for the majority of circuits because they were built according to a different set of rules.

It resulted from a series of mismatches.

The current cars are quicker on the straights because they have less drag than the 2020 models, and they travel faster at Monza than anywhere else.

Additionally, Monza was resurfaced before the previous year’s race, and the new surface has more grip than the worn-out, worn-out one that Hamilton had previously set the record for.

Verstappen once said, “I don’t think about that when I crossed the line,” but it’s nice. It wasn’t too bad, either. The cars were enjoyable.

In terms of high speed (corners), they are reasonably good. In a straight line, they move quite quickly.

“Of course, the low speed (corners) are where we fall short in comparison to the previous generation (of cars).” And yes, some tracks now allow you to set lap records.

“Also, the new Tarmac aids kerbing (too).” Like, they slightly opened up.

That beat the previous record, which was set in 2004 by Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya with a V10 BMW engine, at an average speed of 162.95 mph.

Some fans of Formula One still have a perplexed perception of the V10 engines’ natural aspiration, so turbos, hybrid systems, or both, were used to reduce the noise until the engine revved to 20, 000 rpm.

This is a contributing factor to the FIA president’s current push for a return to naturally aspirated engines, which was developed over the weekend in Italy.

In 2002, Montoya first gave the record to Monza. The first lap of the famous Silverstone layout, which was the first to break the 160-mph barrier at 160.938mph, was Keke Rosberg’s iconic performance at the 1985 British Grand Prix.

Amazingly, the Finn, the world champion of 1982, completed that lap on a slow-punching rear tire.

Verstappen hasn’t won in a while since the May Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix.

Given that the McLaren has typically had a much bigger advantage in races this year than it has in qualifying, and it is so good on its tyres, one might have anticipated the four-time champion to be pessimistic about turning this into a win.

Verstappen’s attitude toward the situation was consensual.

He said, “I don’t think it will be simple to be in front of McLaren.” “That’s been demonstrated throughout the entire season.

“We’ve had a few good qualifying moments this season, but every time we race, we always struggle a little bit.”

“I’m going to give it a good shot. My long run on Friday was enjoyable. I don’t know if it will be enough, but I do believe we have a chance if we can do something similar and their improvement is minimal.

“We will see what we can do,” the saying goes. “To stay here will be difficult.”

Verstappen might be more competitive over a race distance this weekend than it has previously, according to McLaren team principal Andrea Stella.

Stella explained that while the McLaren was losing time on the straights in qualifying, it was the fastest car in the corners.

The grip-limited area extends as you accelerate, which would make our car “naturally more competitive,” he said. “In racing, the corners become quite a bit longer because you brake earlier,” you go later on throttle, and this makes our car more competitive.

However, if we take Verstappen’s lap times into account, they are very comparable to ours based on what we have seen in terms of ours in practice. He probably ran a very fast, very competitive 1:23 run.

“We have seen Mercedes and Ferrari run good lap times.”

After coming back last year, “The Tarmac has a very high grip.” I believe there won’t be as much degradation as McLaren’s reputation for being very good when the grip is low.