Max Verstappen admitted to some shock in ending third in Method 1 qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix, following Crimson Bull’s turnaround in fortunes after a lacklustre pair of Friday observe classes.
The reigning champion ended up fifth in FP1 and seventh in FP2 after battling a wayward RB21 chassis throughout his qualifying simulations, whereas his new team-mate Liam Lawson discovered the automobile even tougher to drive and sat within the backside quarter of the timesheets.
In a single day work appeared to carry the Crimson Bull right into a significantly better body; Verstappen was simply 0.081s away from Oscar Piastri’s FP3 benchmark to sit down third quickest, and reclaimed that place in qualifying – albeit 0.385s shy of Lando Norris’ pole lap.
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Reflecting on qualifying, Verstappen defined that the automobile was nonetheless missing just a little little bit of outright tempo, however that the steadiness adjustments had made it a lot simpler to get the tyres into the precise window for a qualifying lap.
“We had a little bit of a tricky begin. This has by no means actually been a superb observe to us I feel as nicely, so it took a little bit of time to grasp how we are able to enhance the state of affairs, and we did that immediately,” Verstappen recommended.
“I am fairly stunned to be sitting right here [in the press conference] after yesterday! I felt assured. I felt one with the automobile. After all, clearly it was missing a little bit of tempo, however general, proud of the laps in qualifying.
Max Verstappen, Crimson Bull Racing
Photograph by: Crimson Bull Content material Pool
“We had been simply attempting to fine-tune the steadiness, and the automobile simply got here alive just a little bit extra generally, it was fairly OK to drive as a result of it was too gradual.
“In the present day it was just a little bit sooner, however clearly nonetheless not quick sufficient. However nonetheless, to be forward of Ferrari and Mercedes I feel is nice for us.”
Verstappen additionally famous that the sensitivity of the tyres, notably within the higher-speed corners, made it troublesome to take care of the tempo via the lap – a phenomenon proven within the drop-off within the last sector, as Verstappen usually confirmed up nicely in sectors one and two.
He said that he did not count on “miracles” from Crimson Bull’s long-run tempo, which was discovered to be the fourth-best within the subject when accounting for the medium-tyre stints – though this was earlier than the workforce made adjustments to the RB21’s set-up.
“I do not count on like all form of miracles about it, I feel [long-run pace] is OK. However I feel it is not on the identical degree [as the McLarens]. I am going to simply do my greatest to see what occurs tomorrow.”
Pictures from Australian GP – Qualifying
On this article
Jake Boxall-Legge
Method 1
Max Verstappen
Crimson Bull Racing
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