Verstappen expressed his frustration after the session, stating that he narrowly missed out on pole position to Lewis Hamilton by a mere 0.003s. He mentioned that his RB19 car felt unstable and he struggled with a lack of connection to the wheel.
Verstappen’s performance in the race was far from being a close competition, as he achieved a dominant win in Hungary, finishing 33.7 seconds ahead of Lando Norris.
Verstappen pondered his performance in the race and proposed that the challenges faced while preparing the car for qualifying inadvertently resulted in a more advantageous starting point for the actual race. He clarified that sacrificing speed for a single lap was not a deliberate strategy.
Verstappen responded to a question from Motorsport.com regarding his mixed feelings about the car’s set-up and qualifying, stating that they had experimented with various approaches, all of which seemed to be effective for today’s race.
However, despite our numerous attempts over the entire weekend, we were unable to achieve success on a single lap.
It is possible that our tires did not perform optimally for a single lap due to the increased heat and prolonged duration experienced during the race.
“You may require a significantly altered equilibrium for that. In essence, I experienced a significant amount of understeer yesterday. Today, the temperature, both in the environment and on the track, is higher. Therefore, it is likely that everything fell into place for me today, resulting in a favorable balance.”
Max Verstappen, representing Red Bull Racing, secured the top spot and stood on the podium.
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
“It was one of those days where everything is simply perfect, you can use any tire,” he later mentioned. “We could have also used a soft tire at the end, and it would have been equally good.”
Verstappen was questioned about his initial move, where he swiftly overtook Hamilton and took the lead by the first corner. In response, Verstappen explained that he sensed the car’s immediate response as soon as he let go of the clutch, without experiencing any wheel slippage.
He playfully mentioned his slightly delayed start at the British Grand Prix two weeks earlier, joking that it was a pleasant change to have a good beginning “for once”.
“It was an exceptionally flawless day. It commenced with a successful beginning, where we experienced a rare smooth launch and managed to take good care of our tires throughout the day.”
We managed to gradually increase the distance every time, and driving the car today was truly a pleasant experience.
As soon as I let go of the clutch, it was instantly apparent that I didn’t experience any wheel spin, unlike my experience at Silverstone.
“I had a successful run. Afterwards, I was aware that I had the advantage of being on the inside, so I anticipated that turn one would be my corner. Consequently, we applied the brakes at a relatively late moment.”
“Afterwards, I proceeded to execute my strategy in Turn 2. From that point onward, I gradually increased my speed.”
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