Max Verstappen got back on pole position in Austria after a three-race absence. Not only did he secure his first pole since Imola, but the Dutchman also did it with utter dominance. Recently, when the gap for pole position has been less than a tenth of a second, Verstappen put almost half a second between himself and McLaren’s Lando Norris in Saturday qualifying. The Red Bull man in the post-qualifying interview revealed how the gap was so big.
In the post-qualifying press conference, he was asked if the gap to the runner-up McLaren man surprised him. To this he said, “Yeah. I mean, of course, it’s a short lap, and the gap was quite big. But at the other end, I also felt really good with the car, and the balance was there. So then you can really push and attack the corners. And I guess that then made it such a gap.”
Max Verstappen was on another level in qualifying
Sit back and watch a master at work #F1 #AustrianGP @pirellisport pic.twitter.com/MWLvXBFq52
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 29, 2024
Verstappen was winning races when the track was not favorable and the balance of the RB20 was off in Imola and Barcelona. Now, that he facing favorable track conditions and everything is falling in place, the 26-year-old is putting some distance between himself and the rivals. The three-time champion is finally bringing the superiority back which Red Bull is used to and was missing in the last three race weekends.
Additionally, the gap to Lando Norris was also increased by the Brit’s poor last qualifying lap. Norris’ first sector was not up to the mark. He also did not improve in his middle sector. All these factors contributed to the large gap between P1 and P2 in the qualifying. However, that does not mean the pressure is off.
McLaren continues to keep the pressure up on Max Verstappen and Co.
Despite the massive gap in the qualifying, McLaren is still on Red Bull’s heels. Both drivers were right on the Dutchman’s heels during the Sprint format. They both qualified behind the three-time champion and gave him a lot of competition in the opening stint. In fact, it would’ve been a repeat scenario in the race qualifying as well. However, young Oscar Piastri ran wide and got his P3 lap deleted in his last attempt.
Regardless, he will have his teammate putting the pressure on. Piastri is also expected to gain positions in the race starting from P7. With this continued output from both McLaren men, the Woking outfit is keeping the pressure on the reigning champions. Any slip up and Norris and Piastri are right there to exploit any opportunity that comes their way.
The P8 will surely hamper the team’s strategy for the race on the Red Bull Ring. However, if the Woking outfit can keep the pressure on till the end of the season, the Milton Keynes outfit will be in trouble.
Apart from the Austrian GP, there are still 13 races to go. McLaren just needs to bide their time and keep chipping away at the lead. In the end, nobody knows how close could it get.
