Max Verstappen credited set-up changes made after today’s sprint race as he continued his unbeaten run of grand prix pole positions at the start of 2024.
The Red Bull driver led team mate Sergio Perez in the second qualifying session of the weekend, taking pole position by almost half a second from the team’s closest rival.
Verstappen won the sprint race earlier in the day having qualified fourth in a rain-affected session the day before. He said the 19-lap sprint race gave the team more ideas how to improve the car, which they were able to do under a rules change introduced for this season.
“After the sprint race, it gave us a few more ideas for the car, and I think the car worked even better in qualifying now,” said Verstappen. “So I’m definitely very happy with how the whole of qualifying went, the car was really nice to drive.
“In Q3, I think that final lap felt pretty decent. Also I was very happy to be able to drive here in the dry, the conditions were pretty good so it was a lot of fun.”
He said he was able to find improvements consistently throughout the session, except at the beginning of Q1, when several drivers failed to better their previous times.
“I think coming out of a race, when you then go back to low-fuel, it takes one lap to get comfortable again. Plus then, of course, new tyres are getting put on every single time so you know a bit where you can find a little bit more in every single corner, little references.
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“Also, because yesterday we had a bit of rain, we had extra sets of tyres so you could practice a bit more. That’s why I think every time – besides I think only my first run in Q3 – we were going a bit faster. I think the track evolution wasn’t that massive around here, but that’s fine.”
Perez was relieved to join his team mate on the front row after reaching Q2 by less than a tenth of a second after he was delayed by Alexander Albon during the session. The stewards looked into the incident but decided to take no action.
“It was very intense,” said Perez. “I nearly got knocked out in Q1, I had traffic with one of the Williams. I had to abort my lap. I came back, go back on hot used tyres and just made it through, P15. It was just a very messy start to qualifying.
“Then Q2 was a little bit more straightforward. I could really get a read into the balance and we were making some nice progress through the session.
“Unfortunately in the end it was…
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