In qualifying for the Brazilian Grand Prix in Interlagos, Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen narrowly missed his seventh pole position of 2022. In Q3 he was 0.203 seconds behind sensationalist Kevin Magnussen in the Haas. In the Red Bull camp, you also know where he lost a lot of time.
“Max braked badly in turn 8 and lost five tenths there. Well, that would have been relatively easy,” explains motorsport consultant Dr. Helmut Marko after qualifying at ‘Sky Deutschland’. Turn 8 is the tight mid-sector right-hander that follows the fast uphill Ferradura-Laranjinha double right.
This is where braking tends to happen, even on dry roads. On a damp track, like in qualifying, the challenge at this point becomes even greater. With changing conditions, it was difficult for Verstappen to find the right compromise between safety and risk. “You have to find the limit of how much you can push,” he says.
Max Verstappen struggles with understeer at Interlagos
“But then you don’t want to make any big mistakes and possibly get eliminated. So we stayed calm from Q1 to Q2. Then Q3 was a bit like a lottery.” Nevertheless, the old and new Formula 1 champion achieved second place.
Verstappen is very happy with this starting position, because: “Compared to the right opponents for tomorrow, it still looks good. And under these conditions, anything can happen. We’re still at the top, which is the most important thing.”
But even with Verstappen, not everything is pure bliss. Already in the first free practice he struggled with understeer. A quirk that his Red Bull RB18 couldn’t fix in qualifying either. According to Dr. Let Marko “not be fixed with aerodynamic means”. “As we know: Understeer is not for Max at all.”
Red Bull: Without any risk in the sprint
But the problem then disappeared in the course of qualifying, and Verstappen was able to race to second place on the grid behind Magnussen. He had already messed with the big names several times this year in the starting phase, including Lewis Hamilton at the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona.
Therefore, Dr. Marko gave the following motto for Verstappen on Saturday: “Ancestors, but without any risk. And then, I think, it should be enough for a win in the sprint. We are significantly faster than the Haas.” And what does the world champion himself think?
“I think the approach should always be the same. We’ll see how competitive we will be in the race tomorrow, but also how the weather will be. I have no idea what’s going to happen,” said Verstappen. But: “That always makes Interlagos something very special for everyone.”