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Max Verstappen was at the top of the qualifying round on Saturday night at the Yas Marina Circuit, putting himself in pole position in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and the championship race. But according to the official Formula One website, the Red Bull driver denied that the trailer of his teammate Sergio Perez was the only reason he defeated the championship opponent Lewis Hamilton to win P1.
Verstappen set a benchmark of 1 meter and 22.109 seconds, and won pole position in the United Arab Emirates, surpassing Mercedes competitor Hamilton, thanks in part to the impressive teamwork of the Red Bulls During the performance, Sergio Perez provided his teammates with a slipstream to go straight back and prepare to go to the 9th turn.
However, even though the Dutchman thanked his teammates for the traction, he downplayed the possible advantages he gained from it: “This was discussed before qualifying, so yes, it is very good and executed very well, but But in fact, it’s not. [the reason] No matter what the gap is. I may have scored a tenth at the 9th turn; this is not a long straight.
“But anyway, I mean, Checo is an excellent teammate and it’s really a pleasure to work with them. Again, thank him very much,” he added, finishing fourth in the grid for Perez. One position behind McLaren’s Lando Norris.
The title contender made progress in his second Q3 flight, then quit in the last few corners and admitted that the traction was much more pronounced in his first flight.
“Yes, to be sure, it was very good in the first run, and then in my second run, I had a very good exit. I didn’t even follow the car directly in the seven races. It’s a waste of time, but it’s a good traction in the first run.”
Team leader Christian Horner further understood how Red Bull used the trailer to compete with Mercedes on the straights and surpass them.
“We discussed slipstream this morning,” he said. “We have reduced downforce, this is the only way to match [Mercedes] On the straight. Q2 is closer to us, and then both runs of Q3 are excellent. That dragged, Checo worked with his teammates; today’s absolutely perfect teamwork. I think this is one of Max’s best laps this year,” he said.
However, Verstappen will adopt the opposite strategy to Hamilton on Sunday, as the Red Bull driver turned to soft composites after locking the mid-size tires to achieve his fastest second quarter lap-despite his interest in using the Red Wall The prospect of tire launches is not worried.
“of course not [the plan] Because I wanted to try to start with the media, but I found that. But yesterday I felt good about the long-term of soft, so making this decision is not a difficult decision:’Well, let’s just focus on soft,'” he said.
Looking forward to the key championship tie-breaker, if Verstappen scores more points than Hamilton on Sunday, he will win. The Dutchman concluded: “Of course this is what we want, but it is not easy, especially for them. [Mercedes’] Formed in the last few games. Now I only look forward to tomorrow, because of course that is the most important thing. “
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