26/08/2023
NEWS STORY
Max Verstappen: "Qualifying in these conditions on new tarmac can be quite tricky but that last lap was very enjoyable. It's all about putting in good laps and staying out of trouble.
"We've had wet conditions at the last few races but it's the first time here in Zandvoort, the wind and drying track played a big factor in Q3 and turn one on my final lap was a bit tricky, but the Team made all the right calls today. The pressure's always there to perform in front of your home crowd but when you can pull it off it feels incredible. To be on pole here feels great and we have a very strong car for tomorrow, let's see what we can do."
Sergio Perez: "It was a challenging qualifying today, with the changeable conditions and amount of red flag time. I definitely wanted to be a lot higher up, especially for the race because it is not an easy track to overtake around. It was very tricky out there, especially towards the end and the strategy we took in Q3 was probably not ideal in hindsight. At the time we thought it was the best to do a double push but I think doing a single timed lap would have been better for the tyre. We just have to look forward now, we have a great race car, we had very strong race pace on Friday and in the simulations so hopefully we are able to make some good progress tomorrow. I want to keep the momentum from before the summer break going, we should be able to really come through the field and deliver the podium."
Christian Horner: "Today was a continually moving target with the constantly changing conditions and there were moments where we thought it could get away from us. The biggest wobble we had with Max was when he went straight on in Q1 on his first lap. The next he got blocked and we had an eye on the weather hoping we weren't going to miss out, we just needed to get one lap on the board and thankfully the next lap he managed to, he just struggled to get the temperature into the tyres initially. In taxing conditions like this, there was a lot of debate around when to run, which tyres etc, and with the added pressure of a home race for Max, it's hard not to feel the expectation of the crowd, the noise and the hype, but the way Max manages that is truly remarkable. Once again the whole Team did a fantastic job in reading the conditions, preparing the car and getting it right for the lap when it mattered, and that last lap was classic Max, truly lightning.
"Checo aborted his first lap to push on the second as he could feel the track evolving but didn't quite have the confidence that Max had today in those difficult conditions and we saw a lot of drivers making mistakes. We've got a really mixed up grid in the top ten but we know Checo can race well from seventh and it'll be an interesting race tomorrow."
Check out our Saturday gallery from Zandvoort here.