'Very Difficult': Verstappen Responds To Qualifying Behind Two Ferrari Drivers In Mexico
F1
Red Bull Racing F1 driver Max Verstappen reflected on scoring P3 during Qualifying for the 2023 Mexico City Grand Prix at Autodromo Hemranos Rodriguez.
Max Verstappen missed the pole position in Mexico City by 0.1 seconds in the final round of Qualifying. His time of 1:17.263 was only enough for the third place.
Scuderia Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz snatched the first two places from the Dutchman. After being asked during the post-qualifying conference if he was surprised, Verstappen replied:
"Yeah, I mean, it's always difficult to tell, you know? I'm not part of their team, so I don't know what's going on. But yeah, I personally just expected it to be a little bit better in evolution through Qualifying from our side."
The Ferrari duo surprised everybody when they improved their times from Q2 by 0.8 and 1.1 seconds. Max Verstappen mentioned his improvements were not big enough.
"And I think that's what we were lacking a little bit. I think Q1 was okay, Q2 wasn't too bad but then it just seemed to like, fall away from us, like the improvements were not big enough, coming into Q3."
Other drivers mentioned the conditions at Autdromo Hermanos Rodriguez make it very difficult to achieve the "perfect lap." Verstappen said something similar:
"But this track is also extremely difficult in qualifying, to basically almost, let's say, hit the perfect lap. Because it's so low grip, if you tried to push a little bit more, you might overheat the tires, or you have a little slide."
The Dutchman explained that when he tried to push, the car balance was off, which resulted in sliding and overheating of tires, both of which lost him time.
"And then you're sliding, you overheat your tyres, and then in the last sector, you have no tyres left. And that's basically a bit I think what happened. Yeah, it’s just this track is very, very difficult to put a perfect lap together."
On the positive side for the 26-year-old, he starts the Sunday Grand Prix from third place on the grid which seems the most optimal starting position at the circuit in Mexico.
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