Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing): Not a single overtaking opportunity in Madrid?

Max Verstappen will start third in the first-ever Spanish Grand Prix at the ‘Madring’ in Madrid. Max Verstappen is pleased with his starting position: ‘That was a very good qualifying session for us. It’s a good result. I haven’t been in the top three much this year.” In fact, this is only the fourth time this season that Verstappen has started a Grand Prix from within the top three. However, he has already secured five podium finishes in the races.

Good feeling in the car

The four-time world champion on the car’s performance at the Madring, where Formula 1 is racing for the first time this year: “We’ve managed to get the car to feel pretty decent in qualifying. I was able to tackle the corners exactly as I wanted to. So that’s a very good result for us.”

Good progress throughout the sessions

Throughout the practice sessions, Verstappen put in a low-key but consistent performance: 5th in FP1, 6th in FP2, 5th in FP3. He has now turned this consistency into a good starting position. Verstappen: “We’ve improved quite a bit. It was nice to see progress across the sessions. But we were immediately in a good window with the car here on the track. I’m just struggling with energy management in the final sector. We didn’t quite get that right and so, naturally, lost ground to the competition.”

Not a single overtaking opportunity?

The problem for Verstappen, however, is that overtaking is likely to be extremely difficult on the Madring circuit. The Red Bull Racing driver said: “Let’s assume the best-case scenario, where I’m faster. Even then, there are no corners where you can overtake. So even if the car is faster, I’ll have to find a way to get past the others somehow.” The circuit is narrow, and the other drivers also agreed that overtaking is likely to be tricky.

Battery flat at the ‘Monumental’

The Madring features a record-breaking corner: the steep bend known as the ‘Monumental’ (Turn 12) is, at 550 metres, the longest steep bend on the calendar. How did Verstappen find this record-breaking corner? The Dutchman, who knows steep bends well from his home circuit at Zandvoort, said: “I wanted to take it at full throttle, but then my battery ran out. That was my ‘Monumental’ experience. Perhaps they should have built it the other way round.’ So not ideal under the current regulations. Verstappen: ‘It looks great in the photos.’ Indeed!

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Madrid: Das Rennen Re-Live

FIA Formula One World Championship

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