According to Dr. Helmut Marko, we can now also call three-time world champion Max Verstappen a ‘qualifying beast’. The Dutchman has managed to take all pole positions until 2024, even on Saturdays where the RB20 was not the fastest car.
From the 2022 season, Red Bull Racing will dominate with a car where the emphasis is more on the race than on qualifying. The logical consequence is that the differences during qualifying are smaller than during the race. Ferrari is an example of a team that is currently in transformation, where the emphasis used to be on qualifying, but that is slowly but surely being shifted to the race.
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Verstappen still developing
With his victory in China, the Limburger has currently managed to take 58 Grand Prix victories, the number of pole positions is 37. The car of course plays a major role in this, but in conversation with De Telegraaf, Marko also points to the growth of the 26 year old Dutchman. “In terms of qualifications, Max has clearly taken a step. It’s about time, because in terms of pole positions he is still a bit behind compared to victories. He is even better than last year. Max can focus even more and together with ‘GP “(Gianpiero Lambiase) find a better set-up so that the car is good enough for qualifying, but at the same time he also maintains his lead in the race.”
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Debris in the final phase of the Chinese Grand Prix
As far as Marko was concerned, Verstappen was firmly in control in China and there was little that could keep the Dutchman from victory. Yet there came a small moment when the heart rate rose briefly in the pit box of Red Bull Racing. For example, in the final phase there were some parts of Zhou Guanyu’s front wing on the track and Verstappen was not sure whether he had driven over the debris. Marko gives a simple explanation. “But he does that on purpose, so that our heart rate increases a bit.”
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2024-04-22 08:26:38
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