Max Verstappen described his pole position at the Italian Grand Prix as a big result for Red Bull, given the struggles of the team at the same location last year.
Red Bull entered the Italian Grand Prix weekend with Verstappen who led the championship comfortably, but the Dutchman was 0.7s from the pole position because he qualified in seventh and finished more than half a minute behind Race winner Charles Leclerc in Sixth. After taking a pole with the fastest round in the history of Formula 1 this time, Verstappen says that it shows clear progress compared to last year’s struggles.
“It was good,” said Verstappen. “It is always difficult here. Low downforce, easy to make mistakes on braking or on the submissions because you have to commit, but with low downforce that is not always easy.
“It is big to get pole here for us. It has not always been a good number for us, especially last year was quite a disaster. So this year is much better and very happy to be the first.”
- Italian general practitioner qualification report
Verstappen says that part of the progress is the result of developments to the Red Bull car itself, but says that this is not the only aspect that has improved, because he also warns that racing tempo has not always followed strong qualifying versions.
“I think we make improvements to the car, but also, which we have found a nicer direction,” he said. “We still have to understand more why it sometimes doesn’t really translate in the race. I had a pretty decent feeling in Zandvoort, but then it was really not good at the race.
“So I am not sitting here and I think tomorrow will be fantastic in terms of how competitive we will be against McLaren. The entire season has shown that you can sometimes qualify, but in the race it is very difficult to stay ahead, sometimes on tracks, maybe where it is difficult to pass.
“You can race here. I expect it will be a tough fight, but we make steps forward, and that is exactly what we want to do. We want to learn a little more that hopefully will help us next year.”
#Verstappen #Goils #Monza #pole #important #breakthrough #Racer