‘Just Max being an absolute nuisance for the leader’

Jolyon Palmer believes Max Verstappen makes an “absolute nuisance” of himself at Safety Car restarts, but says there is nothing in the rules that says he can’t.

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Sunday’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix saw Verstappen and Charles Leclerc fighting for the victory around for the second race in a row.

This time, though, it was Verstappen who came out on top, the Red Bull driver getting his title defence up and running with a 25-point haul.

He succeeded late in the grand prix when he overtook Leclerc, the two have engaged in a thrilling DRS battle.

However, early in the race they also had a short fight, this time behind the Safety Car.

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— Formula 1 (@F1) March 27, 2022

Brought out for Nicholas Latifi’s crash, Leclerc lined up P1 with Verstappen P2 and the Dutchman using what Palmer says are his usual tactics of trying to get side-by-side with the race leader at the restart to take the preferred line.

Leclerc, though, was wise to it.

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

“Charles just didn’t bite.

“He forced Max slightly wide and stayed in the lead, no DRS