In the streets of Las Vegas, Max Verstappen missed only the third place. He was beaten in qualifying by both Ferrari drivers who were obviously better prepared for the cold desert conditions and circuit configuration. The Dutchman admits that Red Bull clearly got the short end of the stick this time.
Max Verstappen gave it his all in the third part of qualifying, because he almost hit the barrier on the way out of the corner. After the first attempts, only 0.083 seconds separated the first three. This gap eventually increased, as Red Bull absolutely failed in the second attempt.
“But to be honest, it didn’t come as a big surprise if you look at the track configuration, the low grip, a lot of hard braking zones and 90-degree slow corners,” he declared after qualifying Max Verstappen. “That is not our strong point in the current season. We know about it.”
“We tried to give our best performance and I think we did it in Q3. Third place, which will change to second place on Sunday, is a good result,” he evaluated with reference to the penalty for Carlos Sainz, which he described as “severe”.
However, as it happens, the points will be distributed only on Sunday, as well as the winning trophies. In addition, Max Verstappen tends to do well at the grand prix, where Charles Leclerc won the pole position. He was able to “steal” ten victories from the Monaco in this way, and Leclerc won 22 pole positions during his career. In Las Vegas, he claimed the one with serial number 23.
“I think Sunday will be about something else. The tires will be heated for a longer time. We are usually fine during long drives. We had a pretty good feeling on Friday, but from the point of view of one round, it’s clear that we’re missing something.” states the native of Hasselt.
So how does he see his chances? Can he win on Sunday? “If their tires wear out a bit more than ours, then yes. Sunday will be all about the tires that will crumble less and later in the stint. Managing it will be the most important thing on Sunday.”
2023-11-18 11:58:12
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