Max Verstappen says ‘easier’ F1 cars narrowing driver differences after Liam Lawson result
Lawson was surprisingly close to Verstappen given his late substitution.
ZANDVOORT – Max Verstappen said this generation of cars makes it harder for drivers to make a difference as it is “a lot easier” to find the limit.
Stand-in team-mate Liam Lawson qualified just 0.115 seconds behind Verstappen, an unusually close margin compared to his previous team-mates.
Max Verstappen reacts to Dutch Grand Prix qualifying
The last time Lawson was teammate to Verstappen in a Red Bull, he qualified last to the Dutchman’s fourth. The pair will start alongside each other on Row 4 of the grid in Zandvoort.
Asked if Lawson’s performance was reflective of the cars, Verstappen suggested it was easier for all the drivers to reach the limit of performance.
“Especially in qualifying,” he said. “I mean it’s a lot easier nowadays with these cars to find the limit because you’re also in quite a few places, you’re a bit down on battery, and everything becomes a bit easier to line up.
“So I think that demonstrated it quite well this weekend compared to the previous cars.
“For me that’s not a surprise. I think you see it already the whole season. Everyone was always within one tenth, two tenths. If you have a very bad quali, three tenths. But yeah, it’s always the margins are super small.”
Verstappen’s comments were by no means an insult to Lawson though and he said it was good to work with the New Zealander once again.
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“I’m I’m happy for him that he he had a good run also at the Racing Bulls, and he has done a very solid weekend so far,” Verstappen insisted.
As for the car, the Dutchman spoke in familiar terms with his frustration at the package, stating the issues that blighted him were nothing new.
“It’s just the same,” he said. “Same balance issues that we had all weekend. So with the big changes that we made, that unfortunately didn’t really do anything to the car.
“Really basically the whole year. It’s not rare that something has that popped up.
“I think also some changes they need to be made for next year.”
As for the race, Verstappen hoped to make some ground up or else he would be left “completely alone.”
“I would hope so,” he said of whether a race environment could close the gap. I mean, otherwise we are completely alone.
“So I hope that we can close the gap a little bit potentially in the race.”
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