Max Verstappen comfortably takes pole at Saturday’s Spanish GP
Posted Date – 06:20 AM, Sun – 6/4/23
Red Bull Dutch driver Max Verstappen qualifying for the Spanish Formula 1 Grand Prix at Circuit de Catalunya (AFP photo)
Montmelo: Max Verstappen clinched an easy pole position at the Spanish Grand Prix on Saturday as his top rival struggled on a wet track and will be far behind the two-time defending champion.
Verstappen didn’t even need to spend all his time in qualifying after creating an unrivaled lap. Red Bull took him back to the garage while his rivals battled for the remaining spots.
He has four poles this season and 24 in his career. He is also poised to win again given the pole position winner’s history of winning 23 out of 32 races at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
Red Bull teammate – Verstappen’s leading challenger – Sergio Perez will start Sunday’s race from 11th on the grid. Perez crashed in qualifying in Monaco last weekend and had to start from the back of the grid.
Verstappen and Perez have won all six games this season. Verstappen leads Perez by 39 points.
Fernando Alonso sits third in the standings with 51 points behind Verstappen, finishing just behind him in ninth. So it looks like his legion of Spanish fans may have to wait for him to end his decade-long grand prix drought.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz had the second-best finish in his McLaren, while a surprising Lando Norris finished third, which Let the home audience feel a little cheered.
“The car was really good today,” Verstappen said. “The weather conditions were a bit tricky early on, but it was a very enjoyable drive. I have a lot of good memories here and hopefully we can have another one tomorrow.” Verstappen showed in 2016 that he would one day be an F1 champion A force at the age of 18, he made his debut for Red Bull at the Spanish Grand Prix, becoming the youngest ever race winner. The Dutch also won here last year.
Charles Leclerc, who took pole position last year, will start 19th on the grid this time around as his Ferrari is inexplicably slow.
Rain in third practice earlier on Saturday left some wet patches, causing several cars to skid into the gravel early in qualifying.
Alonso’s Aston Martin suffered some damage to the underside after running over the gravel. Perez also went off course into the gravel.
George Russell was also in trouble and will finish 12th behind Perez after complaining his Mercedes was bouncing and he had “no confidence in the tyres”. He and fifth-place team-mate Lewis Hamilton even had a touch while trying to initiate the lap, sending pieces of one of their cars flying.
