Four months since he had experienced that, an eternity. During qualifying for the Sprint race this Friday at the Austin circuit, Max Verstappen finished in first place in an event, which had not happened to him since the Austrian Grand Prix at the end of June .
No points yet, just a breath of fresh air for the title holder, who did not hide his pleasure after the session. “I’m happy today, the car behaved pretty well, and of course I’m happy to be firsthe savored. It’s been a while!“A moment which the Dutchman did very well to put an end to, since his lead over Lando Norris (McLaren) in the drivers’ standings has diminished considerably in the meantime.
He has 52 points left to defend in the last six meetings of the season (+3 sprints in Austin, São Paulo and Lusail), too few to hope that his level this summer will be enough to lock in a fourth consecutive world title. . “Super Max” didn’t seem to panic, he seemed to be waiting for the trigger; it could be that this Texas weekend becomes it.
“The track is fantastic for a driveradded the Dutchman, triple crowned in Austin in 2021, 2022 and 2023, while noting the difficulty of managing a circuit with sometimes impeccable portions, sometimes a little dated and lumpy. On a tour, it’s not the easiest. But it’s fun.”
Helmut Marko also had fun. “This is a very good start. New car parts worked immediately“, noted the strong man of the Austrian team, who gave Planet F1 a more direct message to his competitors: “I would say Red Bull is back.“It’s up to the Dutchman, who hasn’t been seen flying for a long time, to confirm it.
