Grand Prix of Qatar – Verstappen “a little shocked” by his delay on the poleman Hamilton – Eurosport.fr

This one, Red Bull and Max Verstappen had not seen it coming. Even if the No.5 V6 was back in the belly of Lewis Hamilton’s W12, and promised to set the track on fire like in Sao Paulo, the Austrian team and the Dutch driver were far from imagining conceding 0 ” 455 in qualifying, Saturday at Losail.

But should we be surprised? The first to panic the clock on Friday during free practice 1, the world No. 1 has only gradually lost ground compared to his rival in the title race. Located at 0 “267 from the Englishman during the last free practice, the Batavian jumped in Q1 – second fastest at 0” 085 from Lewis Hamilton – then he stalled. His delay showed 0 “302 in Q2 and 0” 455 in Q3. This is the largest gap observed this season on a dry track.

“I don’t expect miracles on Sunday”

“It’s been a weekend of ups and downs so far. I was happy in qualifying but just not fast enough, commented the pilot at n ° 33, a little K.-O. upright. I thought I had done a decent lap but when I heard the deviation I was a little shocked. It was really hard to compete with them. “

“On the one hand, I’m happy to be second, but the gap with Lewis is very big, he continued. The qualifying session has been more than a hassle for us in the last few races (Turkey, Brazil, Qatar), so we need to take a closer look. “

And when it comes to racing, he doesn’t prefer to shoot a plane. “I don’t expect miracles on Sunday but we are on a new track and many things can happen, he said. We will not lower the bars. It’s very fast, so it’s hard to keep up with another car. It will also depend on the tires we put on and those around us. “

“Max got the most out of the car”

“It was a crazy qualifying for me, like the whole weekend for us, and after free practice 3 we were really confident with the changes in sight., pleaded Sergio Pérez (Red Bull), eliminated in Q2 with 11th time . We had everything in hand, but we didn’t do it all when it counted. We changed our approach in terms of preparing for the evening and did not do the number of laps we wanted. I had traffic and we paid the price for it in Q2.

“It’s great to be in the front row with Max: he got the most out of the car, Red Bull Racing team manager Christian Horner said. He will have a chance at turn 1 on Sunday, but it’s very difficult to keep up with the speed in those corners and to pass. The first 500 meters are therefore going to be crucial and then it will depend on the strategy, pit stops and reliability. The tires are constantly under stress on this track. It’s going to be fascinating to see how long they last on Sunday. Too bad Checo in isn’t in the top 10, but it’s a long Grand Prix and he’s still a very important factor for us. “