Max Verstappen hints that setting the same lap as George Russell’s pole position time in Formula 1’s Canadian Grand Prix flattered Red Bull’s overall competitiveness.
Verstappen had been unable to match the pacesetting Mercedes drivers during the final practice session but recovered to end up engaged in a dead heat with Russell.
However, the Dutchman has acknowledged Russell’s pole time being slower than Lewis Hamilton’s benchmark Q2 lap concealed the Mercedes’ outright pace potential.
“Yeah, I mean, in general, I think it wasn’t a bad qualifying,” Verstappen expressed.
“I think what was mentioned before, probably Q3, was the weakest of the sessions for Mercedes. So, you know, being on the exact same lap time, yeah, it’s great.
“But in hindsight, I think when you look at their pure pace, I take second. Because after Q2, I saw their lap times. I was like, there is no way that I can do something like that.
“Then, of course, there was a little bit of rain in between, like a few spits here and there.”
Verstappen has urged Red Bull to ensure it executes smoother weekends as an electrical issue in FP2 cost him track time and forced him to switch to an old engine.
“But yeah, I mean, I think overall, just the weekend was again a bit messy from our side, just too many little issues,” he continued.
“And then, yeah, from there onwards, we tried to, of course, find the best possible balance with the car.
“I think we did get a decent balance in qualifying. I was quite happy with it.
“But yeah, we need to be able to just have cleaner weekends without issues. And I think that will help a bit as well.”
Verstappen had anticipated that the long-standing kerb-riding weakness in Monaco which hampered Red Bull would be prevalent again at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
But while the reigning champion admitted the more open track is less penalising to Red Bull’s vulnerabilities, Verstappen considered second place “damage limitation”.
“We’re still struggling with the same things,” he disclosed. “But of course, the track layout helps compared to Monaco, where Monaco is a lot more low speed.
“So it’s really important to have good ride mechanical grip here. Of course, there’s more aero involved.
“Of course, there are a few places still where you need to ride kerbs or you have bumpy places.
“But we know those limitations, so we need to just work on that. But that’s why I think in general, to be P2 here is all right.
Verstappen claimed he was not surprised with Mercedes’ sudden emergence, citing how shocks such as Ferrari’s double Q2 exit show how tight the margins are now.
“I think in general, when you look at the whole grid, there are quite a few surprises, like good surprises and bad surprises,” he said.
“So yeah, it just shows that everyone is closing up and it’s details that make the difference. Maybe you understand tyres better.
“You know, of course, certain weaknesses from your car and probably other teams have their own weaknesses.
“So you just need to play that as well and take that into account with certain track layouts. But it’s good for Formula 1.”
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