The first Sprint Qualifying of the season bears the signature of Max Verstappen. The world champion managed to better manage the Pirelli soft bikes than Leclerc and managed to outwit the Monegasque Ferrari during the penultimate lap by recovering the first position and thus confirming the start from pole also for Sunday’s race.
However, the Dutchman’s Sprint Qualifying did not start in the best way. When the traffic lights went out Verstappen struggled a lot making the tires skid and was immediately overtaken by a Leclerc who had sprinted from the second box.
Max also had to check Lando Norris’ McLaren in the mirrors, which he later joined the Dutchman’s Red Bull and then raised his foot before the braking point of the Tamburello.
“The start was very bad, I don’t know what exactly happened. I had too much skidding ”. These were the first words spoken by Verstappen at the end of a Sprint Qualyfing that allowed him to nibble a point in the standings at Leclerc.
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari F1-75, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Until halfway through the race it seemed that the Ferrari driver could easily control the Red Bull number 1, but in the closing stages Leclerc’s pace started to rise due to the appearance of the graining on the front right and Max bit his prey.
“I kept my cool. At the beginning it seemed that Charles had a little more pace but I think that in the end he had a crisis with the tires while we, on the other hand, managed to manage them better. I managed to get close and enter the DRS area and then we started a good fight at the Tamburello ”.
Is today’s victory an appetizer of what could happen tomorrow? Verstappen preached caution, highlighting how strategies could play a fundamental role in Sunday’s race. Furthermore, the weather forecasts do not exclude the risk of rain on Imola.
“I know tomorrow could be a little different, but today we managed to go well on these compounds. If I start like today I will surely have to watch my back, but tomorrow there will be the possibility of using tires with more compounds and things could vary. However, today was a good day “.
