Max Verstappen wants you to know that this is harder than it looks.
Verstappen will start from pole position for Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix. This should come as no surprise. Two-time F1 champion Verstappen started from pole position in six of the season’s nine races. He has won six of them.go faster than anyone That’s what Max Verstappen is doing.
But Verstappen doesn’t like anything or anyone holding him back. That’s why he complained on Friday after race officials eliminated dozens of the fastest laps in qualifying, saying the driver had slid outside the strictly defined race track. And on Saturday, he complained again after his poor visibility allowed him to see team-mate Sergio Perez. push him lightly onto the grass During a sprint race in the rain.
‘I think I looked very stupid today’ Verstappen Said Qualifying question on Friday. “The number of laps being cut made it look like we were amateurs.”
“People will say, ‘I should have kept the car within the white lines,'” he added. “If it’s that easy, you can get in my car and try it.”
Viewing method
time: The Austrian Grand Prix starts at 9am Eastern time. (The global start time is here. )
tv set: The race will be broadcast on ESPN in the United States. Available for streaming on ESPN+.Pre-race coverage starts at 7:30pm Not in the US? Full list of F1 broadcasters can be found here.
Sunday starting grid
Brave Dutch underdog Verstappen starts on pole position for the fourth straight race. Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz will be thrilled to start from 2nd and 3rd, but less than Lando Norris and McLaren when it comes to starting 4th.
But Sergio Perez’s struggles continue: he will start from 15th after posting his best lap time in qualifying erased For not staying on the grid.
Storyline of the week
Sore loser? When Lewis Hamilton proposed said in an interview with Sky Sports This week, the sport’s leaders said they would change the rules to allow other teams to close the design and performance gap with Red Bull, or at least Red Bull would do better with their next new (and potentially even faster) car. I argued that we should not get off to a head start. During the season he was immediately reprimanded by Verstappen. “A lot of things in life are unfair,” Verstappen said curtly. He later said in a reply to Sky that Hamilton wasn’t too worried about the competitive imbalance when the Mercedes team was winning seven straight drivers’ championships.
truck. The Red Bull Ring has a reputation as a high-speed track with long sections that emphasize straight-line speed, and is an area where Red Bull’s machines have had a big advantage throughout the year. But it also has the biggest elevation difference in F1, and that elevation can affect the car’s hold on the track. Need a real-world comparison? Now let’s say it’s 200 mph and the corner is ahead. in the rain.
weather Saturday’s sprint race was particularly likely to be spoiled at the start by rain, but Sunday’s forecast calls for more rain. That will affect tire choice and pit strategy – one stop or two? — and perhaps the consequences of that too.
what they say
-
“We didn’t talk about it when he was winning everything.” Verstappenresponded to Hamilton’s proposal that F1 enact rule changes to limit Red Bull’s dominance.
-
“I’m very happy to finally finish qualifying cleanly again and be back on the front row. Leclercin a position to change the luck of Ferrari.
-
“A good way to achieve that would be to have two Red Bulls out of the way.” Fernando Alonsoon what it takes to win in F1 these days.
-
“I haven’t lost it, I know. You don’t go from winning races to suddenly being a very bad driver.” PerezAfter a great day, a rarity these days, finishing second in Saturday’s sprint race.
Final race: Canadian Grand Prix
If someone stops you in the street and asks you who won a Formula 1 race, the safest answer is still ‘Max Verstappen’.
