Red Bull’s Max Verstappen will be starting the 2026 F1 Spanish GP in P3 after he set a time of 1:31.964 in qualifying. The Dutchman missed out on pole by a mere 0.140s against polesitter McLaren’s Lando Norris.
Ahead of the 2026 F1 Spanish GP, Verstappen revealed that he anticipates overtaking to be the main challenge of the race due to the limited opportunities. The four-time world champion also spoke on tackling Turn 12 of the Madring circuit and shared his impression of the track thus far.
Verstappen reflects on 2026 F1 Spanish GP qualifying
Reflecting on his performance in qualifying, Verstappen shared that he was satisfied with his car’s performance, noting that it was rare for him to qualify in the top three this season. The Dutchman also praised the improvements on his RB22 that allowed him to build steady momentum throughout the weekend.
“I think it was all right. I mean, I haven’t been here so much this year in the top three. So for me, I think we had a good qualifying. The car, I think we made some nice improvements, but it was also, I think, straight away when we arrived here in a decent window.
“And then, yeah, I think we just struggled a little bit. It’s always that final sector where we just don’t seem to get our deployment like our competitors. And that makes it, of course, very tough to match. But, yeah, overall, I mean, I’m quite happy with how everything went. I mean, every qualifying from Q1 to Q2 to Q3, just nice progression.”
He also identified the final sector as the main area for improvement as he shared it was the combination of the deployment in the final sector as well as limitations the RB22 had that prevented him from clinching pole position against his rivals. The Dutchman had been rapid in the first two sectors throughout the hour.
“You know, there was not really things that I guess I left on the table, just more like a few limitations within the car that we know we have, plus the deployment in the final sector where we just didn’t seem to maybe fully get it right. But that’s qualifying. I mean, the race is, again, very, very different.”
On the potential of pole position
Prior to Q3, Verstappen had topped the time chart of Q2, setting himself as a potential candidate for Q3. However, when asked if he was confident he was able to clinch pole, the Dutchman shared that he had used two sets of soft tyres that gave him an edge above the rest. Hence, his Q2 performance was not an accurate representation of his RB22’s single-lap speed compared to the rest of the grid.
“Yeah, but I think I was also one of the only ones that used two set. So it’s not really a fair, fair comparison.“
He also revealed that there were no special reasoning as to why he chose to run later than the rest in Q3, stating he aimed “just to have clean air”.
“No, just to have clean air. And there was enough time. Everyone, I guess, quite early. So there was a bit of time for us to run later.”
Anticipating a tough 2026 F1 Spanish GP
Looking ahead to the 2026 F1 Spanish GP, Verstappen is doubtful about any chances to move up the order even if his RB22 had the speed. As explained by the Dutchman, due to the lack of corners to overtake, he instead would have to heavily rely on the tyre degradation of the driver in front to create opportunites to pass.
His main goal ahead of the 2026 F1 Spanish GP would be to identify the best corners on track for potential overtakes.
“It will be tough. I mean, even let’s say best-case scenario, you’re faster. You can’t pass. There are no corners where you can pass. So you need to rely on people degging very aggressively. So, yeah, it’s going to be tough.I mean, the long runs, yeah, were very tough. A lot of deg for everyone. So that will be probably the key point tomorrow. But even with that, I need to still figure out a corner where to pass.”
The difficulties of maintaining clean laps
Verstappen then shared his insights on the difficulties of driving clean laps and maintaining focus while driving around a hybrid street track like the Madring circuit. The 28-year-old also highlighted that it was easier to make mistakes around street circuits due to lower concentration levels.
Nonetheless, he did also praise the high grip present on track despite lamenting the high tyre degradation.
“Yeah, I mean, it’s always tough, I think, when you’re on the limit. And yeah, with your concentration, I think on any street circuit, it’s always a bit more difficult, I guess. It’s easy to make a mistake and then the mistake ends up with you hitting a wall or crashing. So you need to be aware of that. But yeah, I think what helps is what they said. Also, the grip is high. That’s nice, at least. And yeah, then it’s all about just the degradation. And yeah, just try and stay clean.”
Tackling La Monumental
The 28-year-old also reflected on tackling Turn 12 of the Madring circuit, La Monumental, which features a gradient of up to 24%. While the Dutchman had planned to go flat out at Turn 12 during his flying laps, he revealed that his battery had run out of energy and he had to add a lift in the subsequent runs.
Verstappen then highlighted that managing energy deployment would be a challenge heading into the 2026 F1 Spanish GP.
“Well, I wanted to go flat, but then my battery died. So it’s just, yeah, I have to add a lift to have better deployment. So that’s my La Monumental experience. Yeah, I mean, it’s cooler banking, but I think they should have done it the other way around, though. Initially, more banking and then just flatten it out. But yeah, I mean, in an F1 car, you have so much downforce. I think it’s more challenging in the other categories because it didn’t look so easy flat in other categories for us. Plus, of course, our battery dies towards the end. So you already slow down a bit. But I mean, I guess for the shots, it looks great from the outside.”
Impression of the Madring circuit
Reflecting on his experience at the Madring circuit thus far, Verstappen admitted he was impressed with the grip of the tarmac.
“I like the grip. They did a good job with the tarmac, even though in some places it’s a bit too bumpy already for a new track.”
Nonetheless, he did once again highlight the lack of overtaking opportunities around the 22-corner track. Verstappen suggested that drivers should have had some input in the track design, stating that there needed to be improvements made to the circuit.
“The corners, like I said before, you can’t overtake. So in some places, the braking zones, like, they need to learn that it should never be that you have to steer, that you have to combine under braking, because it doesn’t allow any kind of overtaking. So for sure, in terms of track design, I think it can be better. I think also input from drivers in the future on track design can, I think, also help a lot. I know they will always come back to you and say, yeah, but the space, but that’s, yeah, BS. There’s always a way to find an overtaking opportunity around a track.”
Regardless, he did commend the event organisers for their swift dissemination of track information as well as how quickly the track was completed for the 2026 F1 Spanish GP.
“But overall, the event itself is very cool. I mean, yes, they’ve done a great job. Also how quick I think they made the track available, the information that was shared for the simulator. So from that sense, I think, yeah, it was very good. But in terms of if you want to have better racing overtaking, I think there can be a few corners that can be changed.”
