The Dutchman put in a spectacular performance in the wet conditions, working his way meticulously through the field knowing he had a title on the line with rival Lando Norris fighting for the win.
Verstappen admitted that he was nervous before the race, claiming that his hands were ‘ice cold’ knowing what was at stake.
The race conjured memories of what happened at the same track nearly 10 years prior, when an 18-year-old Verstappen had not long made his debut with Red Bull.
During the 2016 race, Verstappen had qualified inside the top 10 but was working his way through the field in the treacherous conditions.
His overtake around the outside of Nico Rosberg at Turn 3 became one of the iconic moments of his career, announcing his arrival as a contender.
Verstappen relieved the race with Martin Brundle on Sky Sports F1, and spoke about how he effectively needed to use every moment to learn about the conditions.
Brundle is no stranger to dealing with poor conditions, having contested 158 races in his career, and pointed out one thing that Verstappen was doing behind the Safety Car even before the race eventually got underway in green flag conditions.
Brundle: “You rewrote the textbook on how to drive in the rain that day. This is behind the Safety Car, what is it you are doing?”
Verstappen: “I’m trying to see where I’m going, then you’re trying to brake late, deep into the corner, see if you’re locking up or where the grip is basically. Here [at Turn 3] I’m scrubbing the front tyres to see where there is more grip.”
After the race was red-flagged twice due to crashes from Marcus Ericsson and experienced driver Kimi Raikkonen, Verstappen would finish in third ahead of Sergio Perez after being overtaken again by Rosberg.
Despite pulling off the move on Rosberg in the early laps, Verstappen would go on to have a moment during the race that caused him to drop behind again.
By now the scenes of him half-spinning coming onto the main straight and narrowly missing the barrier are etched into every F1 fans mind, and while it looked like blind luck, Verstappen drew on experience to avoid a race-ending crash.
Brundle: “You said to me on the podium that it was 50/50 skill versus luck, do you stand by that?”
Verstappen: “Definitely. I lost the car here, I locked the brakes and then I said to myself ‘I can save it’ because when I locked all the wheels, luckily the front started to go to the right side rather than the left. Once I realised it was going to the right, I released the brakes and then you can just grip up and turn it.”
Brundle: “But you straightened the steering wheel? Is that a conscious decision?”
Verstappen: “Yeah because if you keep it that way [right] the car starts to go the other way. It’s better to have a four-wheeled drift and have more time to save the car instead of letting it spin, then you are out of control.
“It’s something I learned driving in the snow on a quad bike. You always have moments where you are sliding and try to correct it.”
The race would go on to be a defining moment in Verstappen’s career, establishing it as one of the all-time great wet weather drives in F1 while confirming to most fans that the Dutchman had what it takes to win a title.
