F1 | Verstappen: “Unexpected pole, the RB20 unlocked itself in Q3”

At the end of free practice, Max Verstappen showed a certain confidence despite the problems encountered during the day. Beyond the episode that led him to damage the floor and the chassis in FP1, forcing him to then skip part of FP2, there was something in terms of balance that wasn't working in the way he had hoped, in particular due to the understeer found in slower curves.

The Dutchman was well aware that there were still some details to be sorted out but, at the same time, he said he was calm about the car's potential, also because Red Bull had the suspicion that Ferrari had already provided something in terms of mapping. In fact, since FP3 a marked difference was observed in terms of top speed in favor of the RB20, demonstrating that, in fact, the Milton Keynes team had kept something in their pocket.

Although there remained a certain difficulty in the slower corners, especially in the final part of the first sector and at the end of the lap, on the other hand Red Bull took a step forward in the medium distance sections. This allowed us to arrive in a better position for qualifying, but it is clear that the development work went into great detail in search of solutions.

Red Bull was among the first to hit the track in FP3, which rarely happens, demonstrating that there was something to check on both the flying lap and the long distance, as Max then also completed a short run with plenty of petrol on board. The three-time world champion didn't immediately find the perfect balance, but other small changes led him to find greater confidence in his RB20 right at the end.

“I think today the pole was a bit unexpected, but I'm very happy with Q3. I think so far this weekend it has been a bit difficult to find a good balance and even during qualifying, Q1 and Q2, I didn't feel in a position to fight for pole. But then we made some small changes to the car and that helped me in Q3 to really push to the limit and both my laps were good.”

“I tried to do my best. Maybe there are some things that could be done better, but that's always the case. When you are under pressure, it is very difficult to get every single corner right like on any other track. But in general, obviously, I am very satisfied with the laps,” the Dutchman said in the press conference after the pole.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo credit: Mark Sutton

“It's just been a little difficult to find a good balance with the car. We will find out tomorrow if it will be enough in the race, because it seems that Ferrari is also very fast and has been comfortable all weekend. So yes, let's hope it will be an interesting race.”

When asked for his opinion on the fact that Ferrari was closer, Verstappen underlined that indeed the Ferrari confirmed itself as being very competitive over the course of this weekend, but this was also due to the fact that Red Bull did not was in top form: “Yes [Ferrari sembra più vicina]maybe because we weren't at the top, but they were good from the start and on our part, it was a bit the opposite, we didn't do well from the start.”

“We managed to improve, but the race will be quite difficult with the softer compounds we have this year. We'll find out tomorrow,” added the Dutchman, underlining how tomorrow could be a race dictated by tire management. The teams retained two sets of white-stripe compounds, a clear indication that the strategy could be medium-hard-hard, with a minimum of flexibility guaranteed during the race. In fact, the teams did not keep a second set of mediums, but only hard, the compound least subject to graining, one of the great themes of the race.