Formula 1: Max Verstappen starts in pole position in Canadian GP
Jun 18, 2023
Montreal [Canada], June 18 : Max Verstappen will start in the pole position in the Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday. After securing a pole position, Max Verstappen said, the behaviour of the car has improved, according to the official website of Formula 1.
The Canadian Grand Prix will be held on Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal on Sunday.
According to the official website of Formula 1, Max Verstappen after confirming his pole position said, "Well, I think it was better already today. Okay, it was in the wet, but the general behaviour of the car was improved and tomorrow we will find out."
In Q3, on Saturday, Max Verstappen was in red-hot form as he set the fastest lap with a timing of 1m 25.858s. He was enjoying his warm-up laps but the unexpected weather of Canada halted the race.
"I think Q1 was quite straightforward with inters," said Verstappen. "The track was quite dry in some places, so there were not many things that could catch you out because the tyres were getting up to temperature quite quickly. That was good," he added.
Speaking about damp tracks, Verstappen said, "But I think after that of course you had to make the call in Q2 - when to switch to slick tyres. I opted to initially go out on the inters to get a lap in, because they work a bit better of course than cold slick tyres on a damp track," as per the official website of Formula 1.
"But then it was quite clear I needed to go on the slicks, and we did a pit stop. Those slick tyres those first two laps, out lap and first time, it's quite tricky knowing the grip levels, and knowing how hard to push," said Red Bull driver Max Verstappen.
He continued, "Luckily, we got a decent lap in at the end, which was enough to go to Q3. After that, it started to slowly increase, the rain, and then at one point it was not possible to start on the slicks."
The seven-time world champion highlighted his team's performance in the Qualifying races. Max Verstappen said, "Overall, we just had good communication with the team, throughout Q1 and Q2, which I think is the most important and we were clear with what we wanted to do. And in Q3 it kept on raining, and it was very important to be out there quickly and get the laps in."
While concluding he said, "Of course, I had to wait a long time at the end of the pit lane, tyres are cold, but it does give me clean air and good vision, which I guess also helps to put a lap in... we just made all the right calls, had the right at the track to do the lap times and very happy to be on pole here."