Compelling Proof that Max Verstappen May Have ‘Inadvertently’ Sabotaged Rival Charles Leclerc’s Race

Video evidence from Belgian Grand Prix damages the title defense of Max Verstappen, the current Formula 1 champion. On the third lap, Leclerc had to make an unplanned pit stop after he saw smoke coming from his right-front braking duct. Brake overheating was eventually traced to a glass tear-off strip caught in Ferrari’s brake duct.

Video replays quickly pointed Ferrari in the right direction, revealing that race winner Verstappen was the source of the visor strip. After seven-time gold medalist, Lewis Hamilton clashed with F1 veteran Fernando Alonso at Les Combes on the first lap, the Red Bull prodigy was obliged to take evasive action.

For the high-speed run between Paul Frere to Blanchimont, the Dutch driver ripped off one of the clear panels on his helmet visor since it was so coated in dust following the crash.

However, he flung it right in front of Leclerc’s speeding automobile. After the race, Verstappen, who had to start 14th owing to an equipment penalty, said, “It was incredibly chaotic, and much dirt as well.” According to Ferrari team manager Mattia Binotto, Leclerc’s sensor failed due to the vehicle overheating. Therefore, his speed was inaccurately recorded during his late pit stop attempt to secure the fastest lap bonus.

The 24-year-old received a five-second reason for taking one kilometer per hour faster than allowed while changing into new tires, which was nevertheless considered excessive. But the risk paid off spectacularly as Leclerc emerged from the pits beside Alonso, who had passed the Ferrari driver just on the previous lap with DRS. On the next lap, Leclerc was back in the fifth position but ended up in sixth place overall once the time penalty was considered. Binotto said to the press that they had not used their “usual sensors monitoring the speed” because “they had failed during the overheating… owing to the (tear-off) of Max.”

To win the Belgian Grand Prix and increase his lead in the drivers’ standings, Verstappen turned arguably one of the most overpowering drives in recent memory. The 24-year-old racer started at the bottom of the group but quickly moved up the ranks, finishing over 20 seconds faster than his Red Bull colleague Sergio Perez in second. With eight races to go, Leclerc sits 98 points below Verstappen in the Driver Standing standings due to several tactical errors and unlucky misfortunes.

Daniel Ricciardo of Australia finished 15th, which is not a very encouraging result for him. The 33-year-future old’s is uncertain as McLaren decided to end his contract per year early to bring in Oscar Piastri, a young driver from his home country. “You can’t wait 18 months for him to figure out how to come up to speed, so McLaren did the right thing. Honestly, I probably would have done the same thing. This is a challenging industry, but they’ve managed to achieve it by agreeing.” Unfortunately, neither Daniel, Alpine, nor anybody else convinced me they wanted to remain on the grid.