“You never know what Mercedes will do”: Max Verstappen won’t discount main rivals despite being fastest before Mexico qualifying

The weekend so far has been strong for Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in Mexico. In FP1, he was second fastest, a tenth behind Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas. The Dutchman was fastest in FP2 and on Saturday was strong in FP3.

Verstappen’s pace was an encouraging sight for the Milton-Keynes-based team’s outing in Mexico so far.

“Overall pretty good feeling in the car,” the championship leader said after FP2. “In FP2 we adjusted things to the car and they were a bit better.”

The Dutch lion @Max33Verstappen takes P1 with a 1:17.217 💪

The Dutchman is looking strong in Mexico City!#MexicoGP 🇲🇽 #F1 pic.twitter.com/j0KOAsVx2z

— Formula 1 (@F1) November 6, 2021

The Red Bull driver set the fastest times on the Pirelli soft compound tyres although it is noteworthy that even on the mediums, his pace was superior to that of his rivals. When asked if the medium tyres would be the best for Q2, the Dutchman had this to say:

“It didn’t look wrong in any case. We are quite a bit faster than the teams behind us and hopefully, it will be the same tomorrow [Saturday].”

Also read: Pole sitter in Mexico to be rewarded with a special piece of motorsport history

Despite the comfort with which Verstappen has been topping the speed charts so far, he is still discounting main rivals Mercedes. He also does not by any means believe that a pole position for him is guaranteed. 

“It does look good today, but you never know what Mercedes will do.” 

“I can only speak for myself and I just had a good day so that’s always good.”

Helmut Marko’s hopes for the rest

Red Bull’s motorsport advisor is of the opinion that pole position is very much in the bag for Max. The only question for him is who will make up the rest of the top 5. 

Marko feels that Perez and Alpha Tauri’s Pierre Gasly can help in separating the two Mercedes teammates.
“It will be tight from second to fifth. I think Gasly is involved.”

Mexican Sergio Perez is the fan favourite to win his home race but Red Bull may issue team orders to ask him to let Verstappen pass if such a situation arises.