This is how Verstappen halved the gap with Leclerc during the virtual safety car

Bad luck for Perez

The duel at the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix was between Leclerc and Verstappen after Sergio Perez lost his lead at the first safety car. The Mexican had just gone in after which Nicholas Latifi drove into the wall. The safety car that followed allowed Verstappen, Leclerc and also Carlos Sainz to make a stop without losing a place to Perez.

Verstappen and Leclerc both had the intention to drive to the finish on the hard tire and so it became an exciting duel. Every time Verstappen got close to Leclerc, the Monegasque would accelerate again in the first sector. Red Bull Racing 's plan was to smoke out Ferrari 's tires by increasing the pressure, but the virtual safety car proved to be Verstappen's biggest opportunity.

The idea of the virtual safety car

During a virtual safety car you have to stick to a so-called delta time. The drivers see this delta on their screens and they have to keep a positive number. If you stay near zero, you cannot gain or lose any time. At least, that's the idea. However, Verstappen showed in Saudi Arabia that this is not always a fair tool.

At the start of the virtual safety car, Verstappen was 1.6s behind Leclerc. This gap existed for laps and prevented Verstappen from attacking Leclerc just yet. The virtual safety car started for the duo when they both drove in the fast third sector. They both had to get off the gas and thus remained at equal distances.

Bad luck for Leclerc

The moment the virtual safety car ended, however, was perfect for Verstappen. When the virtual safety car ends you can accelerate again, but you do depend on where you are on the track. At the moment it turned green again, Verstappen and Leclerc were driving in sector one between turns three and four. The spot on the track was ideal for Verstappen.

Because it went green again just before turn four, Leclerc had no way to accelerate into that turn, where Verstappen still had a little bit of straightaway before entering the turn. This, combined with a sharp Verstappen, made a big difference. Indeed, the Dutchman was suddenly within a second of Leclerc and had gained 0.8s in this small moment. With that, the Monegasque's lead had been halved.

Verstappen takes advantage

The biggest advantage for Verstappen was that sector one had also been halved. Until that fourth corner, the two had been driving at equal speed in the sector in which Ferrari had been dominant all weekend. Leclerc therefore had fewer corners left to make a gap with Verstappen, so the Dutchman was finally within half a second of Leclerc at the final corner. On the first lap, Verstappen did not go on the attack right away, but once in the DRS zone, Verstappen did not let go.

Leclerc couldn't get away from Verstappen in sector one to the point where he didn't get into his DRS. The Red Bull Racing driver then needed a few chances, but finally drove past the Ferrari driver and didn't let it come back, although Verstappen was also helped at a good moment by a yellow flag in sector one.