Max Verstappen responds to Fernando Alonso ‘perfection’ assessment
Nico Hülkenberg, Max Verstappen and Fernando Alonso. Montreal, Canada. June 2023.
After securing his third consecutive pole, Max Verstappen has responded to Fernando Alonso labelling the Red Bull team as running to “perfection.”
The Dutchman came out on top in difficult conditions in Montreal as he secured his 25th career pole and fifth this season.
His chances of victory on Sunday were boosted when main rival Fernando Alonso could only manage P3 after a red flag caused by Oscar Piastri scuppered the Spaniard’s flying lap in Q3.
Instead, Verstappen will line up alongside the Haas of Nico Hülkenberg and said communication with the team was key to securing pole.
“I think it’s mainly just about communicating well with the pit wall,” he told Sky Sports F1. “Just very happy with how we executed everything.
“I think we made the right calls even in Q2, there was no need to go straight out on the slick tyre. I think it was better to do a bit of a banker lap on the inter.
“We put a few laps in on the slicks, I think it was a bit slippery out there but I didn’t risk too much.”
Verstappen looks well set to continue his dominance of the 2023 season and it was put to him that Alonso had recently described the Red Bull team was working to “perfection.”
“I think we’re doing a lot of things well,” he responded. “Of course it’s very enjoyable to be part of the team. It’s going really well but we can’t sit still, we can’t be dreaming too much and we have to be on it again tomorrow.”
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As to whether he misses out on on-track battles due to him leading by a considerable margin, Verstappen is making races enjoyable with other challenges instead.
“There are still always critical moments in a race where you have to work and you have to do things well because if you make tiny mistakes, they’re there.
“So tomorrow again, is a different day. We don’t know what the weather will do fully and a lot of things can happen.”
Verstappen will start on pole for Sunday’s race while his team-mate Seergio Perez has some recovery work to do having qualified P12.
