Max Verstappen reveals why he’s ‘happy with P2’ at the 2023 Italian GP qualifying session
Max Verstappen remains unfazed as he loses out on pole position to Carlos Sainz.
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Max Verstappen (Via Imago)
Max Verstappen has been on a roll this season. Having acquired multiple pole positions during his runs in qualifying sessions, Monza seemed like yet another circuit that the Dutchman would conquer. However, that has not been the case so far. Red Bull’s straight line speed was commendable this season. This is why it was assumed that Monza would be a piece of cake for them.
That has not been the case so far. Carlos Sainz and Ferrari have been giving tough competition all weekend, and it all showed promising results when the Spaniard took pole on Saturday. Max lost out on pole position by 0.013 seconds, and Charles Leclerc completed the top 3. This was Sainz’s first pole on home soil and 4th career pole.
Despite Ferrari’s success, Max Verstappen remained unfazed. In an interview, here is what he had to say about the current situation. “When you look at their rear wing it seems like it’s quite well optimised for Monza, whereas our wing – especially for one lap – is maybe not the best optimisation. So yeah, I’m happy with second. You know at Monza it’s always very tight. Sometimes you might jump ahead, sometimes you’re just behind, but I’m confident for tomorrow,” he said.
Red Bull have gone on to win every single race this year ahead of the Italian GP
While Sergio Perez has two wins under his belt, Max Verstappen has 11. Out of those, the Dutchman has an ongoing race winning streak of 9 which has matched Sebastian Vettel’s record. If Verstappen wins yet again at the Italian GP, he will have broken the record that was previously set in 2013 by yet another Red Bull driver. No team has ever won all the races in a season.
Ferrari had gotten a low drag rear wing to Monza, which has helped them in their one lap pace. It will be interesting to see how it holds up for the race. Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc have the pressure of the tifosi as they start P1 and P3 respectively, on home soil. From the Friday data, it looks like Red Bull is stronger on longer stints. This may be a threat to Ferrari’s shot at home glory.
In case you missed it:
- Max Verstappen goes back on statement about his F1 retirement plans after Lewis Hamilton signs new contract with Mercedes
- Aston Martin team boss defends Lance Stroll following poor performances at the Dutch GP, claims “reliability issues” always affecting the Canadian
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Varad Joshi
(940 Articles Published)