Judul : Why Verstappen Calls Second Place in Las Vegas GP "Fine"
link : Why Verstappen Calls Second Place in Las Vegas GP "Fine"
Why Verstappen Calls Second Place in Las Vegas GP "Fine"
Under normal conditions, Max Verstappen would be extremely upset about not securing pole position. However, following his second-place finish in qualifying for the Las Vegas GP, he said something that is incredibly uncommon for this highly competitive and driven individual.
"It's acceptable this way," he remarked.
Rain before and during the initial part of the qualifying session created hazardous track conditions. There was sufficient pooled water for Pirelli's blue-walled 'extreme' wet tyres to be required.de factooption until the last part; typically, these tires are not used during a Formula 1 race weekend as conditions requiring their use are usually marked by a red flag.
Merely reaching Q3, considering the constantly changing track conditions, traffic, and regular yellow flags, was a significant accomplishment. However, it has become clear that Red Bull's resurgence has lost some of its momentum: a new floor design for Monza seemed to unlock some underlying potential in the RB21, allowing Verstappen to close the gap on Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in the championship battle, but recent developments suggest that Red Bull hasn't yet found a full solution.
The team keeps running different set-ups on its cars, effectively turning Yuki Tsunoda's vehicle into a mobile testing facility. This weekend, the two Red Bulls are using slightly different floor designs, not due to a shortage of spare parts, but in an ongoing effort to find the ideal performance balance. Team principal Laurent Mekies apologized to Tsunoda following the Las Vegas qualifying session for making "major errors" with tire pressures.
Verstappen's attitude has evolved alongside these changes. Initially, he openly dismissed his chances of winning the title during the summer, but he became more involved again after securing victory at Monza and gradually closing the gap on the McLaren drivers in the following races. However, after losing that momentum—particularly against Norris in Mexico and Brazil—he has changed his stance once more, stating before the Las Vegas event that he "needs a lot of luck until the end" and that he is "not even thinking" about the championship.
Red Bull's performance was affected by its inability to complete many long runs using the appropriate tire compound, and two red flags at the end of FP2 prevented Verstappen from fully testing the RB21's capabilities when the conditions were closest to those of qualifying – although this became irrelevant due to the rain on Saturday.
It was extremely slick [during qualifying]," he remarked. "You know, it felt like ice. To be honest, it wasn't much fun.
I enjoy driving in the rain, but this situation is a bit excessive for me. I would say you need to be extremely cautious.
Frankly, I was surprised there weren't too many issues. So everyone was acting pretty well – or maybe just frightened. Either way. I believe we had a bit more competition with the extreme tires compared to the intermediate ones.
Very challenging to complete a clean lap. There are people pulling out, yellow flags, locking up your car, 360s – all of these things. We went through qualifying with relatively few issues, I'd say.
It's good to be in the front row. Of course, a bit unfortunate not to have another lap, but I think if you look at the entire Q3, we never really had a chance for pole position anyway, so this is acceptable.
The section does become less grip, and typically, with each lap, you should be able to increase your speed, but there wasn't enough time. I believe if you review the entire Q3, we were never competitive.
we never came first, we were never fast enough, and being second is acceptable.
Verstappen has indeed transitioned from positions other than pole to leading the race at Turn 1 – and from there, secured victories in a vehicle that wasn't the fastest. In Brazil, after being eliminated in Q1, he moved up through the ranks to reach the podium following the team violated parc ferme rules to adjust both the car's configuration and its power unit. However, in Las Vegas, he was cautious about setting high expectations.
We didn't really carry out any extended runs properly," he said. "In FP1 I did a little, which wasn't entirely to my satisfaction. So I hope that the changes we've made since then will make it somewhat better. But I'm not expecting it to be remarkable.
Read Also:
Demikianlah Artikel Why Verstappen Calls Second Place in Las Vegas GP "Fine"
Anda sekarang membaca artikel Why Verstappen Calls Second Place in Las Vegas GP "Fine" dengan alamat link https://www.arablionz.pro/2025/12/why-verstappen-calls-second-place-in.html
0 Response to "Why Verstappen Calls Second Place in Las Vegas GP "Fine""
Posting Komentar