Max Verstappen: “We have a subscription for 3rd place”

By finishing 3rd in the qualifying session of the Spanish Grand Prix, Max Verstappen reached the top 3 of the grid at the Catalan track of Montmelo for the first time in his career. A position which, however, remains quite relative given the performance of the two Mercedes W11 from Lewis Hamilton et Valtteri Bottas.

The Dutchman is in fact seven tenths behind the star-studded cars, and in the same position as since the start of the Barcelona test. " It seems like we have a third place subscription, jokes the pilot Red Bull.

Everything went well, I of course tried to be as close as possible. I'm quite happy with my lap and I got the most out of the car. We can't really complain, the car is competitive, although we know we can improve in certain areas.

But we are clearly improving the car which is good. This is the most we can do at the moment. »

It will once again be on the racing tempo that Max Verstappen will count to try to break the domination of the Mercedes, which had almost worked with the good management of the Pirelli tires at the Great Britain Grand Prix, before the Dutchman triumphed last week again at Silverstone, again by managing his tires as well as possible.

Tomorrow, Verstappen will start on soft tires, like the Mercedes, not having wanted to play a new strategic move.

“The soft tire is good enough to start the race, indicates the old pilot Toro Rosso. Usually, the softer compound is trickier. I was really happy with the long runs on Friday, with the balance and the grip of the tires. Tomorrow is another new day, and I hope I will be close to them and can put the pressure on. »

That’s all we want for Sunday suspense…