Max Verstappen will start the Imola GP from the front row after the Red Bull Champion nearly missed pole on his final run in Qualifying.
Heading into Qualifying for the Imola GP, Verstappen looked like a hot candidate to snatch pole position. Verstappen kept pace with the McLaren duo throughout the disrupted Qualifying session. The Dutchman set the fastest time on his first run in Q3, and for a moment, it appeared that he had pole in the bag. However, Oscar Piastri in the McLaren ultimately managed to snatch pole from Verstappen by a tiny margin of 0.034 seconds.
Verstappen on his Qualifying run
Verstappen was questioned about his first run in Q3 in the post-qualifying press conference. He noted that the car had improved from Friday’s practice, making it ‘nicer to drive’. However, keeping the tyres alive for the Qualifying lap’s duration proved challenging.
“Not a lot. Yeah, it was alright. I think compared to yesterday, we improved a lot again,” he said. “The car is a lot nicer to drive. The only problem I had in qualifying was basically the faster I wanted to go, the more problems I had with the tyres just overheating. That was holding me back in Q3 already, run one.”
“And then when I tried to go faster on the second run, Sector 1 was great, and then I just ran out of tyres. I just started understeering more, and just tried to keep the lap together, really. But yeah, that’s a bit of a shame.”
“Of course, we came in and I saw George was on a Medium. And honestly, I also felt better in FP3 on the Medium. But you don’t really have the tyres to qualify on it properly. And of course, for tomorrow, we want to make sure we have the tyres in a good window.”
The C6 tyre compound
Pirelli brought the softest compound, the C6, to the Imola GP, so drivers had to experiment a lot to get the tyres in the right operating window. Verstappen believes that no one managed to get it quite right and that the tyre choice might not have been the most suitable.
“Quite a bit because it’s the first time with the C6 as well, so I think no one is really on top of it yet. “But it’s clear that probably for a track like this, it’s really on the limit or already a bit over the limit.”
Red Bull Updates
Like many teams, Red Bull brought updates to Imola and, after a tricky Friday, worked to improve the car. Their work paid off, as Verstappen said he was ‘happier’ with the car. However, the available tyre compound posed a hindrance, as Red Bull still struggles with overheating and serves as a key area to focus on for the upcoming races.
“Yesterday was a tough start, but I think today we definitely put it in a better window. I was a bit happier with how the car was coming alive and also the balance of the car,” he admitted. “So that’s a positive. It’s just that the tyre compounds this weekend didn’t really help us by being that soft because we know we overheat our tyres more than we would like. So that is still a focus point for us.”
Expectations for the Imola GP
Red Bull’s long runs didn’t look all too promising, but Verstappen hopes that the adjustments to the set-up will allow him to mount a charge.
“I don’t know,” he answered. “I’ll just try to do a good start and see where I’m at with the pace, because yesterday wasn’t particularly good in the long run also. And then yeah, just see with the new set-up we have on the car. Hopefully it all sticks a bit better on the tarmac and, hopefully, in general a bit more competitive.”
When asked whether he believes the addition of the C6 tyre would open strategic opportunities, Verstappen expressed doubts about whether the tyre would be used during the race.
“I don’t know yet. I don’t think many people will touch the C6 if you need to do a lot of laps in a row, but we’ll see tomorrow.”
