He set the fastest time this Saturday, in 1:53.159, but will start from tenth place this Sunday. Max Verstappen was satisfied with his qualifying session during the press conference, but displays cautious optimism for the race, given his penalty. Having gone through Q1 and Q2 with only one set of tyres, he emphasized the importance of this strategy to improve his chances in Q3.<\/p>\n
\u00ab I did Q1 and Q2 with only one set of tires, which was important as it gave me a better opportunity for Q3,” the Dutchman said. However, despite a solid performance, he acknowledged that Saturday’s results are not crucial compared to Sunday’s race. \u00ab We will just try to move forward, manage priorities and savings, and maybe have a bit of luck. \u00bb<\/p>\n
During the qualifying session, Verstappen found himself six tenths of a second faster than his competitors after the first lap. However, a slight rain hindered his efforts to improve his time. “Maybe it just rained a little more, which didn’t give me the same grip,” he explained. “When you have the tires, you can try to get the most out of them.”<\/p>\n
When addressing his strategy for the race, the reigning world champion underlined the importance of surviving the first round and taking advantage of their different tire strategy. “Surviving the first round and continuing from there,” he stated. “We’ll have to see how it evolves during the race, but we’ll see what we can do.”<\/p>\n
Despite his previous successes at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, Verstappen remains cautious about his expectations for the race. “I am not as confident as the last two years to come back to the front,” he admitted. “I still see it as a race of damage limitation.”<\/p>\n
The Red Bull driver also noted that the car’s balance had improved compared to the Hungarian Grand Prix, but it is uncertain if this will be enough to be the fastest. Overall, the balance is a bit better, yes, he said. If this will be enough to be the fastest, I do not know, but I hope we can have a bit more control.<\/p>\n
In anticipation of the race, Verstappen mentioned that warmer temperatures could lead to more sliding, but he hopes that it will work in his favor. “Tomorrow will be a little warmer, so probably more sliding. I just hope it will be better for me,” he said.<\/p>\n
He also emphasized the importance of good tire management, stating that if you are good with tires, you can pass people.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
With a different tire strategy and cautious management of the opening laps, Max Verstappen is hoping to limit the damage and achieve the best possible result at the Belgian Grand Prix.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":44568,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,1749],"tags":[474,941,1294],"class_list":["post-29481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-f1","category-news","tag-grand-prix-de-belgique","tag-verstappen","tag-qualification"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n