Max Verstappen surprised everyone, including himself, with his pole position for the British Grand Prix on Saturday. Afterwards, the Red Bull driver put the achievement into perspective. His car can compete, but not on all circuits.
Silverstone is certainly to Verstappen’s liking. The old airbase above London has a number of kinks that require a driver to brace themselves. “This is really a track that I like, with a nice flow and a lot of very fast corners.”
Apart from his personal preference, these are also the tracks where Verstappen has to make the most of it. With the Red Bull RB21, he already performed well at the similar Suzuka. In Silverstone, it worked again. “Only these kinds of circuits are not so numerous on the calendar,” he remained realistic.
“If you take the average of all circuits, then I think we are lacking. But if you are on those circuits where you do well, you have to use that, of course. Here, our car comes to life.”
‘Didn’t think this was in it’
And Verstappen did just that, with an impressive lap that trumped World Championship leader Oscar Piastri and a number of English crowd favorites. He had a tenth of a second lead, which was quite a lot considering the extremely small differences in qualifying. That lap came at the last moment, and therefore surprised the main actor himself.
“Even in the first two parts of qualifying, I didn’t think this was in it. It was decent, but not good enough to compete for pole.” Red Bull did some – as Verstappen invariably calls it – finetuning and that’s how the fastest time rolled out of the RB21.
Verstappen had ‘understeer to the moon’
That wasn’t the case at all on Friday. There were new parts screwed onto Verstappen’s car, but initially he still had “understeer to the moon” with them. The images of the Red Bull sliding over its front wheels went massively viral on social media.
After a night of working on the setup and falling temperatures in Silverstone, things went a lot better on Saturday. But even then, pole position, with a strong McLaren and the revived Ferrari on the track, was a surprise. “I don’t think anyone expected this, if you look at it realistically. In our team, there are always a few who think it’s possible, but that’s not always the case, of course.”
Lightning fast due to small rear wing
One of the keys to success was the small rear wing that Red Bull had put on Verstappen’s car. That was also a choice to get the balance that was so disturbed on Friday under control. Understeer often occurs when there is much less grip on the front wheels than on the rear wheels. By opting for less downforce at the rear, that balance is somewhat restored.
An additional advantage is the high top speed. The small rear wing has much less air resistance. So in qualifying, Verstappen was more than 9 kilometers per hour faster at the measuring point than Piastri.
However, there are not only advantages. In total, Verstappen has less downforce than his competitors, who are driving around with much larger wings. So also less grip. “He also keeps it more just,” Verstappen said about his rear wing.
Tire management will be a crucial factor in the race. “Only we’re just not that good at it, compared to McLaren.” Rain shouldn’t come either. “Then we have a little less grip. So I hope it stays dry.”
Glad it’s just about racing again
Above all, Verstappen was happy that it’s just about racing again, after a run-up full of stories about his alleged move to Mercedes. “A lot of people write about it, say things about it, or think they know it all. Ultimately, I’m the only one who really knows, and a few people around me. And I just do my thing and only say what I want to say.”
For the time being, Verstappen is mainly focusing on the Red Bull, which is being improved little by little by his team. Parts of the floor have been renewed this weekend. “We try to add as much lap time as possible to the car with those updates and I think it certainly worked.”
With a World Championship standings that Verstappen doesn’t even have to look at anymore, he will also try to have fun at Silverstone on Sunday. It’s a different mindset than in a title fight, he confirmed. “Yes, I’m just trying to get the most out of it and drive a strong race.”