Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen clocked the fastest lap in qualifying with a 1:53.159, 0.595s ahead of a distant Charles Leclerc in this year’s qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix.
However, he will start 11th after suffering a 10-place grid penalty for exceeding his alloted engines for 2024.
Speaking after qualifying, the 3-time world champion was happy with the performance, adding that they used a higher downforce package compared to other competitors, helping him in the middle sector.
“Yeah, it was a good day. Of course, yesterday we tried a few things with the car. I think we learned from that.
“And today we tried to put on the car what we thought was best. And I think, as you could see, we ran maybe also a little bit more downforce compared to some competitors. So naturally, of course, in the wet, probably it’s a little bit more stable and that can help, of course, around here.”
He added that saving new intermediate tyres was one of the important things that they did for Q3. He breezed through Q1 and Q2 using one set in each session, leaving him with two new ones for Q3.
“But overall, I think the laps were good in qualifying all the way from Q1 to Q3. I passed Q1 and Q2 only on one tyre set, so I think that was important because that gave me, of course, a better opportunity for Q3.
The Dutch driver has come from P14 and P6 over the last two years at Spa. Despite his dominant pole today, working his way through from P11 to win looks to be far more difficult this time around as McLaren’s race pace on Friday looked very good.
Verstappen is hopeful of fighting Mercedes and Ferrari for the podium, along with teammate Sergio Pérez.
“Yeah, everything was working well, but, of course, today is not as important because tomorrow is going to be dry, it’s going to be warmer, and we need to be good on tyres and, of course, starting 10 places back.
“It is going to be, of course, a little bit more tricky. I don’t expect it, of course, to be like the last two years.
“Naturally, looking at the cars around us being quite quick. So, yeah, we’ll just try to move forward, try to fight Ferraris, Mercedes, and with a bit of luck, maybe the McLarens, but it all depends on our pace ourselves.”
Speaking about the Q3 lap, the 61-time Grand Prix winner said that he isn’t sure what had happened in the final minutes of Q3. He was aiming to make a faster lap, but went 0.042s slower in the end. Rain did start to fall once again in the closing couple of minutes, however.
“I had another tyre set, so I was like, let’s try and go faster. I’m not sure what happened.
“I was very close to my lap time in places, like gaining, losing. Maybe it just rained a little bit more and it just didn’t give me the same grip.
“But I mean, both laps are almost identical. So when you have the tyres, I mean, you can try and get a better lap out of it.”
Verstappen said that he treats this weekend as ‘damage limitation’, with Red Bull no longer completely dominant.
They have two new sets of mediums for the race, and one hard. The other big teams have two new sets of hards available.
“Survive lap one and just go from there. I mean, we also have a bit of a different tyre strategy to the other cars, so we have to wait and see how that will evolve in the race.
“But, yeah, we’ll see what we can do. I mean, I’m not as confident as I was the last two years around here in coming back to the front. I still see it more as a damage limitation race.
“That’s how it is. But at least today was the best possible we could do in terms of the starting position for tomorrow.”
Asked if he is more confident in the car compared to last weekend, he was sure of it, although it might not be enough for McLaren.
“I think overall the balance is a bit better, yeah. If it’s going to be enough to be the quickest, I’m not sure. But yeah, hopefully we can just have it all a bit more under control.”
When asked why he went back to the higher downforce rear wing ran during FP1, the 40-time polesitter said that he was more confident with it. He had dominated first practice, before McLaren took over in FP2.
He added that tyre management is the most important thing heading into the race, an area McLaren has excelled recently.
“I felt a bit more confident and comfortable on the FP1 [rear] wing. So I hope that that is also going to be the case tomorrow. Tomorrow is a bit warmer as well, so naturally probably a bit more sliding. I just hope, yeah, that it’s better for me.
“But when you look at the McLaren, for example, they run a very skinny wing. Seems to work for them, but it didn’t really work for me yesterday. So yeah, bit of a different strategy also there. And I guess we’ll find out tomorrow how it will work out. I mean, I have to pass cars.
“The DRS effect is quite big around here, but at the end of the day, I think it’s more important just to be good on tyres around here. Because if you’re good on tyres, you can pass people.”
Asked if the track result was because of the track conditions or strategy, Verstappen said: “I think it’s all down to the drivers!”
Pressed about the pace of their closest competitors, McLaren, and if there is still hope that he can win the race tomorrow, the 26-year-old struck a rather pessimistic tone.
“Looking at their pace yesterday in the long run, it’s incredibly strong. They look very comfortable out there.
“Of course, they are starting a little bit further back, I think they’re so fast they will quite quickly challenge for the front, for the lead.
“And it also depends a bit, of course, how I get through lap one and stuff. But I would already be happy if we can match that race pace. So starting a bit further back, also being on different tyres, I don’t know how that is going to work out.
“Most teams around us have two hard tyres, we don’t. I don’t know if that’s better or not, of course, for the moment, but we’ll find out tomorrow. But yeah, it’s definitely still a damage limitation.”
Asked if McLaren is now the new standard as an all-rounder car, the Dutch F1 driver described that they have been the best in the past few races, and that Red Bull has some catching up to do.
“Well, I think if you look at the last five, six races, they for sure have been the best. I mean, quite clear. And I mean, that’s fine. Fair play to them. I think they have done a great job.
“From our side, yeah, we have a bit of work to do, a few things also to analyse over the break. From race one all the way to here, what we have done.
“And then, yeah, try to fight back from Zandvoort, see if we can actually improve the situation, try to turn it around, try to be more competitive.“
Verstappen is still favourite to win the coveted World Drivers’ Championship. He holds a 76-point lead over Lando Norris heading into tomorrow’s race.
Executing everything correctly is vital as McLaren has got a run of momentum going.
“I think the battle is in a way still quite tight. So when you make small mistakes, it definitely can swing quite quickly. And yeah, we have to try to use that in our advantage as well, because it’s so difficult at the moment.
“But we’ll see. I mean, there are so many races left and so many things that can happen.“
“You can have the best possible preparation into every single weekend, but even then things can catch you by surprise. So you just have to remain focused, calm, and try to improve.”
