16/05/2024
NEWS STORY
Max Verstappen: Imola is always an iconic track to race at and we are excited to be back again after it was cancelled last year. We have had some great Team results here and it is always interesting to race at a really old school track like this, as it is very technical, with some complex combinations of corners and braking zones. The Team in Milton Keynes and trackside have all been working really hard and I have been back at the factory this week working on the sim. It's nice to be back racing in Europe again too, so we are looking forward to seeing what the weekend brings.
Sergio Perez: It's nice to be back in Europe and particularly, Imola, after we missed this race last season. This location can throw challenging conditions at you when it comes to weather, that always makes things tricky, it can limit our time on track during practice and affect qualifying massively. Hopefully we get a dry weekend, the forecast looks promising at the moment for Friday and Saturday, being solid across those days should put us in a great position for Sunday. I have been at the factory this week, looking at how we can maximise set-up and improve on the performance in Miami. It's about us making the right decisions across the weekend as a Team and we are working together to get back on the podium in Italy. This weekend, as a grid we will honour Ayrton Senna and it was important for me to be part of this by wearing the Forever Senna balaclava in his iconic yellow. He was an inspiration to us all growing up and was the reason many of us got into a kart and ended up here today.
Stats & Facts
• Pole this weekend would be Max's seventh consecutive pole to start the year, matching the best-ever start to any previous Formula One season set by Alain Prost in 1993.
• Checo is one of only two drivers to finish every Grand Prix in the top five this season. The other driver being Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.
• The last two Emilia-Romagna GPs have been won by Max; in which time he has led 124 out of 126 laps in the GP format. Max also won the Imola Sprint in 2022.
• Checo ended the longest wait for a maiden career front row appearance when he qualified second on the grid at the 2021 Emilia-Romagna GP, his 193rd race start.
• Oracle Red Bull Racing lead the Constructors' Championship by 52 points with 44 points up for grabs at Imola, meaning that the Team will definitely continue to lead the Championship going into the Monaco GP.