When Max Verstappen “struggles” in qualifying he still finishes second, as he did in today’s grid-setting session for the 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix, pipped to Sunday’s top spot start by his nemesis Lewis Hamilton.
It would’ve taken a brave punter to bet against Verstappen claiming pole position before the session started. Indeed it took a magnificent record-breaking effort, by seven-time F1 World Champion Hamilton claiming his 104th top spot start, to deny the Red Bull ace the privilege of starting from P1 for a 28th time. He will line up in P2 for the start of the 38th Hungarian GP.
Speaking after a tense and frantic session at Hungaroring, in the summer heat of Budapest, Verstappen reported in Parc Ferme: “I’ve been struggling the whole weekend to find a good balance – every session has been up and down. Today also in qualifying, it was really difficult. Q1, Q2 to feel confident, to really attack corners.
“I thought my first run in Q3 was quite good, but then second run, again no feeling. I tried to push a little more – you lose the rear, lose the front. We’re still second, but I think we should be ahead with the car we have normally, but so far this weekend we haven’t been on it,” he revealed, hinting he will be on it come race day!
Of the Red Bull updates to their unbeatable car brought to Hungary, Verstappen said: “I think the update works, but I think we just really didn’t put everything together setup-wise because I just think everything has just been all over the shop and not exactly where we wanted to be.”
Last year Max won this race from tenth on the grid
Nevertheless, with a superb package at Verstappen’s disposal in the Red Bull RB19, and glimpses of mighty race pace seen during the course of the past few days, means Verstappen starts the race as a favourite. Worth recalling, he won the same race last year from tenth on the grid!
Later in the team report Verstappen added: “I think our upgrades worked but that didn’t really show. The balance I had in qualifying won’t necessarily be a bad thing for tomorrow. Everything in the race is a lot calmer and more stable, whereas in qualifying you really push it to the limit on the balance and can feel more issues.
“Our long run looks competitive so that is positive. It is still going to be tough to get in front but if we are better on tyres then I predict a good race. Nothing is lost, we have a good race car and it will be a good battle with them,” added the soon-to-be triple F1 WDC.
If Hamilton and Verstappen, who have crashed in battle too often, survive the first corner and even the opening lap, it should be a great F1 contest between the two best drivers of this era. Which Max and Lewis clearly are.
Perez: I believe we can be competitive and aim to finish on the podium
In the other Red Bull, Sergio Perez’s woes are well told. In a nutshell, the Mexican veteran needed to find his mojo ASAP. Hungary is the place to begin his comeback from inexplicable form loss, exacerbated by his rookie error FP1 prang which did him no favours.
But, he delivered by finally breaking the five-race curse and made it into Q3, but ninth with a car that could be on pole and four-tenths on Verstappen in second place. Perez’s next task is to shadow his teammate and finish behind him. Anything less will only intensify the pressure on him.
Perez looked back on Qualy in the RBR report: “Today was such a tight battle that was dominated by the compounds and the new tyre format. You don’t get many learnings on the tyres so we don’t have too much information from them for this weekend.
“In Q3, I had a poor sector one on the last lap which set us back, however, we have had a solid day and are focusing all our efforts on tomorrow. I believe we can be competitive and aim to finish on the podium as we have a good race car and a strong race pace.
“The track here is harder to overtake on but I am confident we will have a good performance: everything is to play for on race day,” reckoned Perez, who finished fifth in Hungary last year.
Horner: It was a big lap from Lewis and he did very well to secure pole
Red Bull F1 boss, Christian Horner summed up from the team’s perspective: “As good qualifying from both our drivers but it was a big lap from Lewis and he did very well to secure pole.
“Max didn’t seem too comfortable with his set-up, he wasn’t able to find his sweet spot, and you could see he was fighting the car slightly. I don’t think he was getting what he wanted from the car in Qualy as he seemed more comfortable in the long runs we did earlier today so we will be looking into it this evening.
“Great to see Cheo in Q3 although I know he wont be happy with P9 but its been a weird grid with a lot of movement. He will race well tomorrow though, we just need to ensure we give him the right strategy.
“It will be 10 degrees hotter which will make things interesting, especially with the balance, but we tend to have better race pace than we do in qualifying so let’s see what tomorrow brings,” added Horner,
Red Bull could make F1 history on Sunday should they win this edition of the Hungarian Grand Prix. With it they will top the Prost-Senna-McLaren record of 11 consecutive wins in the top flight. A record that has stood since 1988.
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