Verstappen an 'absolute nuisance' on Safety Car restarts - Palmer

Jolyon Palmer says Max Verstappen's wicked tactics during Safety Car restarts make him "an absolute nuisance" for the race leader.

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc had assumed the lead from Red Bull's Sergio Perez in the first half of last Sunday's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix following the Mexican's decision to pit.

But a Safety Car triggered by Nicholas Latifi's crash on lap 14 provided the Monegasque and Verstappen with a free pitstop that allowed the pair to remain at the front of the field.

Shortly before the restart, Verstappen shadowed his rival, weaving in his wake before pulling up alongside Leclerc before dropping back and then repeating the maneuver as he taunted the Ferrari driver.

For Palmer, it's a routine behaviour on the part of the Dutchman intended to distract or rattle his opponent.

"Max has a restart technique where he likes to get side-by-side with the leader and stop them turning in where they want to be," the former F1 driver told F1 TV.

"Charles just didn’t bite. He forced Max slightly wide and stayed in the lead.

"No DRS of course on the restart, so the pressure wasn’t as bad but Max was really trying to force the issue with that side-by-side."

• Read also: 'Smart tricks' helped Verstappen outrace Leclerc in Jeddah

Palmer viewed Verstappen's ploy as a way of preventing Leclerc from opening up a corner and positioning himself on the ideal line before accelerating away.

"What he’s doing is he’s stopping Charles from opening up the corner," added the Briton.

"Charles wants to be heading in that direction on the outside so he can swing into the left-hander that’s coming up and get the most speed through the corner.

"But because Max is alongside, he’s going to have a much better reaction time because there’s less distance that he can lose, he has a nice view of when Leclerc is going as well and he’s stopping Leclerc from getting to that outside line that he is wanting.

"Max doing his little weaving, Charles is accelerating and braking on the throttle and brakes all to try and get the tyre temps up. But the whole way through this, Max is just sitting there alongside.

"He doesn’t overtake, he’s just sitting there, just being an absolute nuisance for the race leader."

Palmer praised however Formula 1's two main protagonists for their second wheel-to-wheel battle in succession that took place in Saudi Arabia.

"Once again, the lead fight was majestic," Palmer wrote in his F1.com post-race column. "

What we are witnessing in wheel-to-wheel action so far in 2022 is a joy to behold – not just from the front-runners but all the way down the field.

"Ultimately, this time Leclerc ran out of ideas after an initial double salvo to hold Max Verstappen back, and despite then harrying the Red Bull for the remainder of the Grand Prix, he could only settle for a close second this time – still a fine result for the championship-leading Monegasque."

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