The two times World Champion took his fifth pole position in a row this year at Silverstone. Verstappen was strongly challenged by home talent Lando Norris today, who led the first segment of qualifying and during Q3 as well, eventually conceding the pole but still starting from the front row tomorrow.
The Red Bull driver was very pleased with his P1, as he said in the post qualifying interview session, highlighting also the very impressive performance of not only Norris, but of his rookie teammate at McLaren Oscar Piastri as well:
“It has been quite a crazy qualifying, it has been quite hectic and also quite slippery in some places. We did our laps in Q3 and I was quite surprised to see these two there, but it is great for them to be here and from our side, very happy to be on pole position.”
Photo credits: Oracle Red Bull Racing
Mixed conditions once again played a role in Q1, and Verstappen mentioned that the track situation, damp in some parts and drier in others, had been tough for him as well while he was trying to safely make his way through the first part of qualifying:
“There were a few damp spots, so I had to be a little bit careful, but of course, you push the limit because we have a quick car, but you don’t go to 100% the limit.”
The Dutch driver, who had won the 70th Anniversary edition of the British GP in 2020, is looking forward to what would be his sixth victory in a row:
“In Q3, you really just go for it, we eeked out the gap a little bit but it was still not a very big gap to them – but a great day for us and I am looking forward to tomorrow already.”
Later on, during the post qualifying press conference the championship leader went into more detil, describing his whole afternoon, and especially the hardships he suffered from in Q1:
“I think mainly in Q1, I went through at Turn 15 actually the first time, straight off there. I couldn’t see, it was very weird because Turn 15 and 16, they were a bit damp, and it was very difficult to see where exactly, you couldn’t even feel it, so that took a bit of time to get on top of.”
During that segment, Verstappen also hit the wall in the pit lane, coming out of his box and damaging his front wing. The Red Bull driver jokingly described the moment citing a well known expression used by a much younger Charles Leclerc after the two of them had crashed in a go kart race, eliciting laughs from everyone in the room:
“Generally I was just trying to get laps in, because we knew we have a very quick car, so we didn’t have to risk all the way to get through, but still that final lap was… Of course I had my little “inchident” in the pits, where I destroyed my front wing.”
“I think that didn’t help because I was at the back to start that final one, it was quite decisive that outlap, passing a few cars there to get that lap in. Luckily it was good enough, that shows it can also very quickly go for the other way, and you’re out,” he added, probably referring to his teammate Sergio Perez, who instead didn’t make the cut to Q2 by 0.019s.
After that rough start, the following qualifying sessions ran much smoother for Verstappen, and in significantly dried conditions:
“Q2 was just… Really after it was just getting better and better, so following the track evolution, and then on Q3 basically the same thing,” he concluded.
An honourable mention was saved again for McLaren who were his closest challengers, with Verstappen praising the strong comeback the Woking-based team has made since the beginning of the season, when Norris and Piastri struggled to even get points:
“It’s great to see both of them up here, great result for their team, and also, you know, where they had started off the year, to see them here is quite an impressive result, so I’m very happy for them, and hopefully they can also have a very strong race tomorrow.”
