Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc had to swallow briefly on the radio after his team informed him of Max Verstappen’s best time. 1:45.507 minutes, that was “fast”, as Leclerc then admitted. Too fast for Ferrari: Leclerc, as Verstappen’s closest pursuer, lagged behind by 0.862 seconds in Friday’s Formula 1 practice for the 2022 Belgian Grand Prix in Spa.
Probably also due to the large gap to the competition, Red Bull driver Verstappen speaks of a “good start” in Belgium and says: “Actually, I was satisfied with the car from the first try. The vehicle worked well and that’s positive. “
However, Verstappen was not just out for fast laps in Spa on Friday. Because he is one of the drivers who will be put back on the grid due to excess engine components. So if Verstappen wants to score well at the Grand Prix on Sunday, he is forced to catch up.
However, the knowledge of the impending penalty “didn’t really change that much” in his training processes, says Verstappen. “We just looked at how we could best set up the car. That worked pretty well from the start. And of course there are always a few little things that you still want to fine-tune.”
Red Bull with “strategic view of the racing calendar”
But if the Red Bull RB18 is running so well, why is the team giving away important grid positions at all due to the upcoming drive change? Red Bull team boss Christian Horner justifies this with a “strategic view of the Formula 1 racing calendar” and the need to have fresh material at least once again at Verstappen.
“I think towards the end of the year things would have gotten tight with our previous drives. Especially when you consider the next courses,” says Horner.
He explains: “In Zandvoort, you don’t want to swap drives. In Monza, overtaking is much more difficult than you might think. You don’t want to change engines in Singapore either. And overtaking in Japan is also difficult. Then you run out of options.”
Spa-Francorchamps, on the other hand, is a track on which you can overtake “well”, according to Horner, especially with such a good top speed as Red Bull has had since the start of the season. “We’re assuming we’ll be quick here,” the team boss continued. “So we and some other teams decided to take this opportunity.”
Verstappen isn’t the only driver to be put back on the grid. His World Cup rival Leclerc will also start from the back of the field on Sunday. Which in turn opens up opportunities for the respective teammates. Sergio Pérez could become Red Bull’s spearhead at Spa.
Or as Horner puts it: “It looks like Carlos [Sainz] received no penalty, neither did Mercedes. So that makes two [unterschiedliche] Race, and this will be interesting. We might have two people at the top fighting each other. And then we’ll see how quickly Max and Charles [Leclerc] drive from back to front.”
Pérez follows
However, Pérez himself did not start the weekend as well as Verstappen. At 1.8 seconds behind the other Red Bull, he was only rated tenth. He “didn’t get into the rhythm today,” says Pérez. “I think that was partly due to the weather.”
“We were out at exactly the wrong time, especially at the very end with the soft tires. It was a bit damp then. When you get to such a damp spot, you quickly lose your balance. It’s difficult to learn anything “, explains the racing driver from Mexico.
Pérez also complains of a “small problem” with the rear wing, but does not go into detail at this point. Only: This “problem” cost him “a certain amount of time” because he was in the pits with his vehicle while others were driving. “I couldn’t do any laps, after that it was too wet,” says Pérez.
His conclusion: “We’ll have to see what we can take with us. I think we looked good, competitive. But we have to make sure to get everything on point.”