F1 | Max aims to win: “RB20 improved, now it’s more predictable”

Sixth pole out of six events, to which must be added the one obtained yesterday in the sprint qualifying. However, counting only the “traditional” qualifications, for now the Dutchman has a full haul during this season.

However, Miami was not an easy pole to add to the collection, as some elements made it even more difficult to put all the various pieces of the puzzle together. With almost 50°C of asphalt, it was easy to overheat the softer compound, as Verstappen himself understood in FP1, when a passage taken at low speed wasn’t enough to cool the tires sufficiently after having aborted the first attempt.

Difficulties then recurred not only yesterday during the short qualifying, but also today, so much so that in the last attempt of Q3 almost no driver was able to improve their time obtained in the first run, with the exception of Lewis Hamilton.

The most important aspect, however, concerns the improvements made to the car between the sprint and “traditional” events. A unique opportunity, which allows you to make the most of the data obtained from the sprint to further refine the setup, an essential aspect for the Dutchman, who had not found a great feeling either on the flying lap or on the long distance.

“I think we’ve improved the car a bit. But every year that we come here I find it extremely difficult to find some consistency with the car, to feel the tires at their best, to feel them on a lap. It’s very difficult to make sure that, for example, the first sector is good and the third, at the end of the lap, is equally consistent, it’s incredibly difficult,” said the three-time world champion.

“Even today it was about finding a good balance during the lap. I think it went well, but it wasn’t the most fun lap of my career due to the slipperiness and lack of confidence with the track, but we are in pole position and this is the most important aspect.”

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20

Photo by: Erik Junius

Undoubtedly these first two days were not as “linear” as those of the sprint in China, given the greater difficulties in finding the set-up, but Verstappen believes that the team was able to make steps forward in tire management even from a race perspective: “I certainly feel the car a little more under control now, which is what I was looking for. Hopefully this will help us tomorrow, but we’ll find out.”

An important issue, however, will be that of fixing the start, today far from ideal from the clean side of the grid: the quick reflexes in closing avoided an overtaking attempt by Leclerc, but it is clear that this is an aspect that the team has already addressed to avoid making the same mistake: “I think we know what we did wrong and what I did wrong too. So I’m sure that if I do things correctly, and we’re very good at managing starts as we’ve seen in the past, normally everything should be fine.”