Max Verstappen reveals Red Bull steering wheel issue lasted entire race

Verstappen, Red Bull, TurkishGP — Photo: © LAT Images

Turkish Grand Prix

Verstappen reveals Red Bull steering wheel issue lasted entire race

Verstappen complained of his steering wheel turning left-hand down

Ewan Gale

Monday 11 October 2021 08:15

Max Verstappen has explained the mysterious steering wheel issue he suffered during the Turkish Grand Prix but insisted the problem was not performance-limiting.

The Red Bull driver was sitting in second with just under half of the race to run when he began complaining of his steering wheel tilting further and further left-hand down in his RB16B.

It was not the only issue experienced by Verstappen as he also expressed concern over the gear shifting early in the race, although the Dutch driver explained neither were critical to the performance of his car.

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"No, it was not the gear shift," said Verstappen. "There was a word next to the number where I can see the gears which was not disappearing, so I had to change one rotary and it was fine, so it was not performance limited.

"The steering was a bit left-hand-down, but also of course the tyres are wearing so you get a bit of an uneven platform but I could feel this already from the start.

"Again, this is not performance-limiting but it’s better to say it than say nothing."

Verstappen saw "no need" to fight Bottas

Valtteri Bottas soundly beat Verstappen for his first victory for just over a year but with Lewis Hamilton only finishing fifth, second for the Red Bull driver reclaimed the championship lead by six points.

Red Bull had struggled all weekend long to match Mercedes and given the way the race transpired, Verstappen decided mounting an attack against Bottas would only work against him.

"In the beginning, I just tried to follow Valtteri but, of course, we had to manage the tyres so I just dropped back a bit and at one point we started to pick up the pace, also because the track was drying a bit," he added.

"But there was no point where I would attack Valtteri and he was just managing his race, of course, also very well and looking after his tyres and I had Charles quite close behind me in the first stint.

"He had very good pace as well. At one point I said the tyres are pretty good, like they were completely worn to slicks, so it was very tricky out there.

"Of course, when the track is like it was, we decided to box, and then after the stop, with like 20 laps to go, I just decided to bring it home.

"Anyway, I didn’t have the pace to fight Valtteri, so there was also no need to try to be within two, three tenths, to try and just follow him. Just save the tyres to the end, basically."