Perfect strategy
Max Verstappen was a major protagonist of Q3 in Belgium and confirmed the good feelings already emerged yesterday in the free practice by securing the front row alongside the day’s poleman, Andrea Kimi Antonelli. The Dutchman for once had no complaints about his team, but rather as soon as the Spa qualifying ended he wanted to thank the team – both via radio and publicly in interviews – for the strategy devised for this qualifying.
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In fact, Red Bull sacrificed Isack Hadjar, who already knew he had to serve a grid penalty and would be forced to start from the back on Sunday due to the power unit change, relegating him to the role of Verstappen’s wingman. The French driver was asked, once he reached Q3, to provide the slipstream to Verstappen in an attempt to maximize the Dutchman’s performance and help him in the battle against McLaren, Ferrari, and George Russell for the front row position alongside Antonelli, whose pole position never really seemed in doubt.
Hadjar the perfect ally
Contrary to what might have been expected, Hadjar did not give the slipstream to Verstappen in the first sector – in the Eau Rouge and Kemmel stretch – but in the last, from after Stavelot to the chicane before the finish line. The ‘first slipstream attempt’ was decent but not perfect, while the ‘second team play attempt’ between Hadjar and Verstappen worked excellently ‘launching’ the Dutchman towards the front row. In fact, the #3 Red Bull, ‘sucked in’ by the slipstream of the twin car, seemed to risk for a moment what would have been an incredible collision. Instead, everything went smoothly.
Verstappen’s thanks
Via radio Verstappen immediately credited the team and Hadjar for the work done: “That was one and a half slipstreams! Well done!”. “Yes, mate, it’s P2! You can thank Isack for this, [he earned you] a couple of rows“, replied Lambiase, the four-time champion’s race engineer. “Yes well done, it was really [a maneuver] executed perfectly – Verstappen added – thanks guys for this. I don’t often get to start ahead at Spa, so this is nice too”. The last comment refers to the fact that often in past seasons Verstappen, even after great qualifying, was forced to start from the back because Red Bull frequently chose this track to serve any penalties for power unit replacements.
Soon after, speaking to the official F1 channel microphones, Verstappen publicly repeated the praise for Red Bull and Hadjar: “The slipstream definitely helped me – Verstappen noted – otherwise I wouldn’t be here. I would have been sixth or something like that. Isack did a really great job. Tomorrow I’ll keep an eye on the mirrors, but today was a decent result. Around here it’s always difficult with the tires, but I’ll do my best to see if we can stay in the race”, he added.
