It’s about an hour and a half after qualifying, the international media obligations are over, so quickly get away? No, the genuinely happy Max Verstappen is happy to take some time to calmly look ahead to Sunday’s race and shed light on the coming period. “I’m surprised, but let’s not cheer too soon.”
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Even after all the formalities, Verstappen himself still couldn’t quite grasp it on Saturday evening; how was it possible that he came so close to pole position with the RB22? “Well, I’m still surprised that we were competing for pole. We did make some adjustments, but those adjustments weren’t that big.”
Counting your chickens
What helps with the performance is the way drivers can drive around the small street circuit in Monaco with these new cars. For once, hardly thinking about energy management; finally. Verstappen nods in agreement. “It’s much more natural driving. You can do your normal thing, how you shift and how you accelerate. Wonderful.”
The excellent result in qualifying, the probable second podium finish in a row and who knows, maybe even a stunt in the form of a win; it seems to confirm that Red Bull is on the right track. On the one hand, yes, the Dutchman admits. But on the other hand, he remains cautious.
“Things have been getting better lately, but we’ve also mainly driven on circuits with slow corners. A real test awaits next week in Barcelona, because there you also have fast corners. So we shouldn’t cheer too soon now.”
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P2 in race?
Verstappen doesn’t forget where Red Bull Racing comes from, after all, things went a lot less well at the start of this season. “First we were happy if we made Q3, at some point we were competing in the top six again, and now maybe some people in the team are already disappointed that you don’t get pole. Not me, you have to be realistic: this is just a very good result for us.”
And what about the race on Sunday? Verstappen naturally wants to win. “But if we can at least hold on to second place, I would sign for that right now.”
P2 in qualifying certainly doesn’t mean he can just overtake Kimi Antonelli. Maybe at the start, but overtaking is and remains difficult, he already said earlier in the evening at the press conference.
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Read everything about the Monaco GP here
