A loss of nearly four tenths at the end of the second sector meant Max Verstappen failed to challenge Oscar Piastri in Formula 1’s Belgian Grand Prix sprint qualifying.
McLaren once again had the fastest car in all three segments of the session, though its drivers’ execution was far from perfect, which allowed Verstappen to grab second place every time.
Piastri in particular only just scraped through to the final contest, having had a lap time deleted due to breaching track limits in SQ2, while Norris ended up six tenths slower than his team-mate in the top-10 shootout.
Still, Red Bull’s Verstappen ended up 0.477s away from pole position. “We thought we would be nearer, but in sector two we are just losing four tenths – not only us,” Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko told Autosport.
“All the other drivers are losing this amount, and even more. So we made a step forward, but obviously it’s not enough to fight Piastri.”
As a matter of fact, Verstappen lost a whopping 0.393s on Piastri over the Fagnes right-left section and Stavelot corner. While Red Bull’s strength was its car’s downforce level in high-speed turns, the team was now banking on better top speed – 345.3km/h for Verstappen while Piastri reached 341.4km/h in the session. But that was far from enough, even with several updates introduced on Verstappen’s car, which Marko labelled “definitely an improvement”.
The Austrian expanded on the gap to McLaren, speaking to Sky Germany: “It’s quite simply downforce. If we add more downforce, we lose too much on the straights, especially in sectors one and three. So you have to find the right compromise.
“But especially Piastri is incredible. It’s not just us – everyone is getting that much from him. And for a single sector, that’s quite a lot.”
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Helmut Marko, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
Verstappen, meanwhile, insisted: “When you’re almost five tenths off, I don’t think going faster or slower on the straight is going to matter a lot.”
Meanwhile, Yuki Tsunoda was outqualified by Verstappen for the 12th time in as many qualifying sessions since he joined Red Bull, failing to reach Q3/SQ3 for the seventh time in a row; his deficit on the Dutchman was six tenths, and he ended up 12th. However, it is worth noting that he was not given the upgrades that Verstappen is running this weekend.
“I know there are some things I can improve but, at the same time, always missing out this close in Q3, it’s frustrating,” said Tsunoda, who qualified 11th or 12th four times in the past six sessions.
Meanwhile, Marko doesn’t think Tsunoda can make enough progress in Saturday’s sprint race.
“He’s getting closer, but I don’t think there will be any points,” he added. “But we’re hoping in the main race on Sunday that he improves his qualifying performance a bit. But there is an upward trend. And again, he’s not driving with the same specification as Max.”
Additional reporting by Jake Boxall-Legge
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