After Pierre Gasly failed to make amends and secure his Q3 position at Spa Franchorchamps, Max Verstappen received a lifeline on Friday. The Red Bull driver, who was almost on the verge of elimination, however, revealed that there were moments when made mistakes that could have seen him out of Q2 long before.
The Dutch driver tried multiple settings to optimize his time at the circuit, during the treacherous conditions. He said that he was incredibly slow in turns 8 and 9 and wanted to improve that and these were long before his “P10 rant.”
The two-time world champion also added he almost went out of track in turn 9 in Q2. Even in Q3, he stated that he was “very slow.” Amidst all of this, the Red Bull star made mistakes that could have cost him his winning streak.
Verstappen revealed what could have cost him the elimination in Q2
During the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix post-qualification press conference, Verstappen was asked what sectors he stretched too much. Speaking on it, he said as per F1 TV, “Mainly in turn 8, 9 because I think I was incredibly slow there.”
“I had a few moments, I almost crashed in Turn 9 in Q2. So even in Q3 in my first run, I was slow there,” further added the defending champion. But ultimately, Verstappen managed to pull the stunning lap out of the hat.
Admittedly, if the 25-year-old would have crashed, he had to start Sunday’s race from P16. This is because Verstappen’s RB-19 had a new gearbox issued and he has taken a mandatory five-place grid penalty.
Verstappen is confident to keep his streak going
After coming out on top on Friday brilliantly, Max Verstappen is full of confidence ahead of the race on Sunday. Even though he starts the race from P6, the Dutchman is sure that he can pull off the win against all odds.
Notably, he started last year’s Belgian race from P14 but still ended up as the winner. Hence, experts believe there is not much hard done to the Red Bull driver given he has the mighty RB-19 underneath him.
As Verstappen inches closer to Sebastian Vettel’s back-to-back nine wins, the only man who stands in his way is his teammate Sergio Perez. While Perez is looking for redemption after finding his form, it’ll be interesting to see if the two Red Bull drivers go wheel-to-wheel against each other when the lights go out on Sunday at Spa Franchorchamps.
