Verstappen reveals why McLaren have an even bigger advantage in wet conditions
Despite winning the Sprint race at Spa-Francorchamps, four-time F1 champion Max Verstappen failed to get involved in the fight for pole position. The Dutchman suggested that Red Bull was eager to try something on his last flying lap which "backfired."
Red Bull had opted for a skinny rear wing for the Sprint, and it proved a masterstroke. With better straight line speed than McLaren, Verstappen was able to overtake Oscar Piastri on the opening lap. From there, the Dutchman drove perfectly to keep the arguably faster McLarens at bay as he took the Sprint win.
However, the Dutch driver was left to rue his laps in the standard qualifying session after he was unable to split the McLaren, and got beaten by the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc as well.
Asked why he was unable to find more time in the closing stages of qualifying, Verstappen struggled to give a clear explanation, but he suggested that Red Bull wanted to try something that "backfired."
“Q3 wasn't very good for whatever reason, the first set just didn't have the same grip. When normally you make nice progression, I couldn't at all.”
“And in the second set, we tried something, and that basically backfired, unfortunately, because already starting the lap, I had so much wheelspin that I couldn't put the power down.
"And then the same out of Turn 1, just wheelspin up until fourth gear or something, which, yeah, lost me like two tenths already," the Dutchman continues.
“Now, even with, let's say, not being entirely happy with the balance, and losing two tenths in Turn 1, then it actually looks quite ok. But, yeah, it was just not what I hoped for. It's still… the balance is not where I want it to be to really attack around here.”
Asked what conditions he would prefer at today's Belgian Grand Prix, Verstappen was quick to say that he would ideally race on a dry track as McLaren's excellent tyre management usually makes the MCL39 even more dominant in the rain.
“Well, normally not, because McLaren is even stronger in the wet than in the dry, because the overheating is even bigger, of course, on an Intermediate, so they have that really well under control. For me, the goal is at least P3.”
