Max Verstappen: “I always want to be closer but sometimes you have to be realistic”

Max Verstappen said it was unrealistic to expect to take top spot in Qualifying for the São Paulo Grand Prix on Friday after title rival Lewis Hamilton took a new internal combustion engine for the weekend.

The Red Bull Racing driver ended second fastest on Friday afternoon, more than four-tenths of a second behind the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team racer and will start Saturday’s Sprint Qualifying race from the front row of the grid.

Verstappen says he was happy to be on the front row in Brazil, but he knows the important work is still to come in both Saturday’s Sprint Qualifying race and Sunday’s feature race at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace as he bids to extend his advantage over Hamilton in the Drivers’ Championship.

“I’m happy to be second, that’s a good position to start from in tomorrow’s sprint race,” said Verstappen.  “I always want to be closer but sometimes you have to be realistic.

“Mercedes have taken a new engine so naturally they have more power this weekend, so for me it’s not a big shock that they are ahead. There are not many points to gain tomorrow in the sprint race, so I hope we have a good start and we’ll see what happens from there.

“Of course, the most important race is on Sunday and I think it’s going to be a lot warmer which will change the behaviour of the car as well, so we’ll see.”

Verstappen could find himself at the very front of the field on Saturday should the stewards penalise Hamilton for a potential drag reduction system (DRS) infringement, although the Dutchman is also under investigation for touching Hamilton’s rear wing illegally in parc ferme.

However, whereas Hamilton could face a disqualification, Verstappen is likely to take a reprimand or fine for his actions, depending on how serious the offence is deemed to be by the stewards.

“Fourth is a strong position to start the sprint race from” – Sergio Pérez

Team-mate Sergio Pérez qualified fourth on the grid for Saturday’s Sprint Race, with the Mexican just over a tenth of a second behind Verstappen and only 0.014 seconds behind Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas in third.

Pérez admitted using two sets of the soft tyre in the first segment of Qualifying was not ideal as it left him on the backfoot later in the session, but he feels fourth is a strong position to start the Qualifying Sprint race from on Saturday.

“It was a bit tricky today, especially in Q1 having to use two sets of tyres, so we started on the wrong foot in qualifying, but we were progressing well and gaining into Q3,” admitted Pérez.  “Then I think the track cooled down a bit and we didn’t read the conditions as well as we could have.

“We got it together for our final lap and we only lacked half a tenth or so to be further ahead. That said, fourth is a strong position to start the sprint race from. I think Mercedes’ new engine seems to be working pretty well, Lewis was untouchable today, but we will see tomorrow.

“Hopefully tomorrow we can have a good sprint race because the car has shown some good pace and I think it should be looking good.”