Verstappen Positive After Qualifying Third for Spanish Grand Prix
Max Verstappen has outlined the key areas Red Bull will target during Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix, expressing satisfaction after securing third place in qualifying at the Madring circuit.
The four-time world champion had finished no higher than fifth across all three practice sessions, admitting on Friday that he and the team were still getting up to speed
with each lap. However, Verstappen turned the form around on Saturday, topping Q2 before claiming P3 in Q3 behind polesitter Lando Norris and championship leader Kimi Antonelli.
Room for Improvement in Final Sector
Asked whether the result exceeded expectations, Verstappen replied:
“Yeah, the car was honestly in a quite decent window, and for us I think to be in the top three in Qualifying is good. We can be happy with that.
“I think still there’s room for improvement – there can be some improvements made, especially in the final sector.
“That’s where we really were struggling probably a little bit too much with our deployment strategy. So that’s things to learn for in the future, but for us to be in the top three is good.”
Tyre Management Critical for Race Debut at Madring
Looking ahead to the first Formula 1 race at the Madrid venue, Verstappen emphasised that tyre management will be pivotal.
“[It could be] a long race, tough on tyres, so we’ll be really about managing that and trying to really extract the most out of it and see what we can do,”
the 28-year-old said.
