Max Verstappen’s pole verdict on Red Bull’s Sepang breakthrough

Max Verstappen hailed Red Bull’s upgrade progress after taking pole at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia.

Red Bull scored the first non-Mercedes-powered pole position of the F1 season at Sepang, the 15th round of the championship.

Max Verstappen claims Red Bull has “pushed some of the weaknesses out”

Verstappen has been a near-constant threat at the front since before the summer shutdown, but had failed to top either a qualifying or race session.

The breakthrough finally came in Malaysia, as he dominated qualifying, taking pole from Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton on a day when championship-leading Mercedes struggled for pace.

Asked what it is about the Sepang layout that had fully brought the RB22 to life, Verstappen conceded: “I don’t know.

“It’s always very hard to say why that is, but I think for us anyway, the last few races we have probably understood the car a little bit better.

“But also the upgrades have pushed some of the weaknesses out of the car.

“There are, of course, always things that you still would like, but we have been adding bits to the car, and they have worked, and it’s as simple as that.

“When they work, you gain lap time; you have a better overall balance in the cars. So with tyres that are very sensitive to balance, that gives you also more lap time.

“And then on the track where it’s all very hot and you want a stable balance or connected balance, then that’s very important. That’s, I think, what we have found a little bit more over the last weekends.”

Pole position comes after Verstappen missed out on victory in Azerbaijan by just 0.196 seconds to George Russell.

Both in Baku and Malaysia, Verstappen’s pace has been backed up by that of teammate Isack Hadjar, who qualified third fastest in Sepang, but will take a five-place grid drop due to an engine penalty.

Verstappen added: “I think in general it’s been an incredible result for us.

“Looking at the season, how it started for us, and the progression that we have made at some tracks, we were kind of close, but now I think this weekend it was very positive for us.

“I think from FP1 we started quite well, and from then onwards, we’ve just been trying to improve the car further, and it’s incredible.”

Pressed on whether Red Bull had potentially made too many sacrifices in the pursuit of single-lap pace over race-day performance, Verstappen countered: “I’m confident with what I did. If others make bigger sacrifices, then good luck to them. But I’m ready.”

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Max Verstappen expects “tough” Bahrain GP in Malaysia

Race day in Malaysia presents some of the toughest conditions that drivers will face all season, with humidity comparable to that experienced in Singapore.

However, while that event takes place in the dark of night, the Sepang race is contested in the heat of the day, adding an extra element.

“It’s tough always around here,” said Verstappen.

“It’s very hot for ourselves, but for the cars, for the brakes, for the tyres. So the race is definitely going to be a tough one.

“You have to manage a lot, and it’s impossible to know at the moment who can do that the best.

“But at the same time, also you know there is a start where a lot of things can happen, so we just need to be aware, ready, and then we’ll see how competitive we are in the race.

“But so far this weekend, I’ve felt good, I felt confident, and I hope we can show that again tomorrow.”

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