Red Bull has changed everything on Max Verstappen’s car
Impressive turnaround for Red Bull and Max Verstappen: significantly behind during the Sprint phase of the weekend, Max Verstappen managed to claim pole position thanks to the impressive work of his engineers.
The weekend in Qatar may take place at night, but it was day and night for Max Verstappen and Red Bull between the Sprint and qualifying sessions. Only sixth on the Sprint grid, the four-time world champion finished only eighth at the end of the race, even finishing behind Nico Hülkenberg’s Haas!
But by the end of the day, the result was very different: for the first time since Austria, the Red Bull driver secured pole position. Certainly, the gap with George Russell’s Mercedes is minimal (55 hundredths) but the reversal of fortunes is still impressive. During the post-session interview, he said he made some changes to the car. This had the benefit of altering the balance of the car, giving him much more confidence to attack; especially now that he no longer has any pressure in the championship.
On Sky Sports, Christian Horner admitted that the changes were much more substantial than that: « Basically, everything we were allowed to change, we changed. You never know if it will affect the balance of the car. It did and it was able to do the perfect lap. We really struggled yesterday, in turn 1 and 2 and especially in the last and a bit in turn 7. All these corners suddenly became better for us. On the final lap, he was neck and neck with George coming into the last corner. He handled it perfectly and it was just enough. »
After so many changes, the big question is whether these settings have had an impact on one lap – but what about the race where tire management will be crucial on this circuit as twisty as Losail. Max Verstappen is well aware that the hardest part is yet to come: « It’s promising. I hope it will last during the race too. I still don’t know if that will be the case, but it was already much more stable on one lap. It is exactly what we needed. It is going to be a physically tough race but I think it will be mainly related to tires and making sure to treat them well. The front left tire is very worn. We will have to manage that tomorrow. I hope with the settings we have on the car now, it will be a bit better. »
The fight is therefore shaping up to be tight between a liberated Max Verstappen, a in-form George Russell in this end of the season and the McLarens who have dominated the beginning of the weekend, knowing that the Ferraris will be lying in wait and will try to keep their last hopes in the Constructors’ Championship.
