Max Verstappen: “It’s going to be difficult to beat Ferrari in the dry”

It's rare to see Max Verstappen also pessimistic. Friday evening, leaning against the Red Bull Energy Station, the Austrian giant's XXL hospitality, in front of an audience of journalists, the Dutchman recounted his day in the car. Second in EL1 at 130 thousandths of Carlos Sainz, he was up to 283 thousandths behind the other Ferrari, that of Leclerc, at the end of the EL2. A session during which he was also dominated by the Spaniard and even by… Lando Norris, surprising 2nd with his McLaren. 

“As expected, it's been a bit difficult here, he explained. We tried to find the right balance in both slow and fast corners. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't... there's still work to do. Ferrari is a little ahead of us. I think it will be difficult for us to beat them in the dry. We will try to close the gap as much as possible tonight and see what the weather has in store for us tomorrow... in the dry we can't compete, maybe we can in the rain, who knows? »

Charles Leclerc, big favorite for pole? © Antonin Vincent / DPPI

In the rain, Max Verstappen has 100% poles this year

The reigning world champion knows it, under the downpours in qualifying this year, he is undefeated. Twice in 2022 it rained on Saturday. At Imola then in Canada, and each time, it was Max Verstappen who took pole in these conditions. The Dutchman can rest assured, there is an 80% chance of precipitation during qualifying on Saturday.  

On the Scuderia side, it’s quite the opposite. We were looking forward to a perfectly negotiated Friday and we're crossing our fingers that the rain won't disrupt this beautiful balance. “It was a very productive day, we changed a lot of things on the car on my side, explained Leclerc. FP1 was difficult, but in FP2, we took the right direction so I am confident that the work we did today will serve us well for Sunday.” 

As for the chances of rain in qualifying, Leclerc says he is ready to deal with it. “It looks like it's going to rain tomorrow, so we'll have to deal with it and above all manage to use the tires in the right window, which is always something difficult in these conditions. This will be our top priority, and maybe if we succeed, we will be able to maintain our advantage.

Carlos Sainz was on the attack this Friday. © Joao Filipe / DPPI

Ferrari to its advantage in EL1 and EL2

Carlos Sainz experienced an opposite trajectory to that of his teammate. After dominating FP1, the changes made to his car affected him somewhat. “In FP1, straight out of the pits, I felt good with the car, the balance, but you always feel that you can make progress so we tried different things in terms of settings for FP2, which made me lose a little confidence and performance, but we know exactly why so for tomorrow and Sunday we think we can return to the conditions of FP1 and be more competitive”. 

After the disillusionment of the French Grand Prix, Mattia Binotto, the boss of the Scuderia, did not want to be satisfied with winning here in Hungary, but clearly showed his desire to go for the double. The rain could reshuffle a few cards, but Ferrari has in any case started its weekend on the right foot. 

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