After a hectic 24-lap race, Max Verstappen held on to P4 amid difficult track conditions at the F1 São Paulo GP Sprint. The Dutchman took advantage of the chaos in the early laps to climb two positions from his P6 start. Nevertheless, issues with bouncing on the slightly damp track hindered Verstappen’s attempts to put pressure on George Russell in P3.
Coming into Brazil with a real chance at ruining McLaren’s two-man battle for the Drivers’ Championship, the Red Bull driver added another 5 points to his tally. While he did not manage to catch Lando Norris on track, Oscar Piastri’s DNF brought him closer, now with a 30-point gap to P2.
Difficult set-up and necessary changes
The entire F1 São Paulo GP weekend was a hit-or-miss for Red Bull and Verstappen, with the Sprint Race sharing much of the same predicament. Despite the team’s constant adjustments, the RB21 still seemed to be in “no man’s land”.
In a post-sprint media pen interview, Max Verstappen detailed the necessary shifts needed to battle Mercedes in the race:
“We will make some changes, and hopefully that will bring it in a better window. Hopefully, that will allow us to also then push a little bit better on the tyres. And then we’ll see what happens. Because like this, you’re a bit, to be honest, in no man’s land because I can’t really stay with the guys ahead.
“I want to, but on the other hand, if we find a bit more, then maybe I can fight with Mercedes. Who knows?”
Nevertheless, with Interlagos, the weather conditions are ever-changing. Going over the tyre strategy, Verstappen explained the choice for slicks over wets for the F1 São Paulo GP Sprint race:
“No, it’s slicks. The final straight is a bit damp, but the rest of the track is slicks.”
Unhappy with the RB21 at Interlagos
The Qualifying session is set to begin at 15:00 (3 pm) local time. As a result, the drivers and teams will have only a few hours to go over the data. With the F1 São Paulo GP being a Sprint weekend, Verstappen and the other drivers have already completed a qualifying session.
In Sprint Qualifying, the Dutchman put out an incredibly fast first sector. Yet, the middle section of the track looked to be quite problematic for Red Bull. As conditions can still change, Verstappen admitted to not being satisfied with the current set-up:
“The car is not where we want it to be. Of course, when you can’t change the car, not much will feel different today. I’m expecting it not to be too easy in this race. But let’s see if we can make it a bit better for the qualifying.”
