Verstappen: “It’s not easy to understand what happened”

It was just a hair's breadth away, 83 thousandths precisely, for Max Verstappen (Red Bull) won the first pole position of his career in Formula 1. On the Hermanos Rodriguez circuit in Mexico City (Mexico), the Dutchman had given everything to become the youngest pole-sitter in the history of the discipline at 20 years old, but that was without counting on the current record holder, a certain Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) who was going to destroy his politeness in his last trick.

Jos Verstappen's son struggled to contain his disappointment at a press conference on Saturday evening. “I’m super disappointed. In fact, in Q3, it became more complicated for me, I couldn't get the tires to work optimally. I really wanted this pole…”, he admitted. “This track is very slippery, and the front tires were not there. I suffered a bit of understeer whereas here you have to swing the car very quickly from corner to corner, especially in the slow section”, he explains to explain his lack of progress between Q2 and the final phase.

Understanding tires could explain this outcome. “We proceeded in exactly the same way as in Q2, but with two different sets of tires, the last sector became more complicated to negotiate. It's not easy to understand what happened, but it sometimes happens in qualifying. »

It's becoming a habit, Max Verstappen also was summoned by the commissioners at the end of the session. Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) suspected him of having “ruined” his thrown trick by blocking it, to which the Dutchman replied in one breath: “What incident are you telling me about?” I was on the inside of the track, he was doing his turn and he blocked his wheel. For me, there is no incident. » After discussion, no penalty was imposed.

At the heart of a controversy with… Sebastian Vettel last year in Mexico, Max Verstappen welcomes the introduction of trackside curbs at the first turns, with the aim of preventing drivers from generously cutting the chicane. “We arrive less quickly at the end of the straight, and with better support, wheel locking is less of a problem. We can always brake later but these curbs will deter the drivers I think. »