Max Verstappen confident, Daniel Ricciardo perplexed

By extending his contract until 2020, Red Bull showed Max Verstappen that he had become their favored driver for the future. This can only boost his absolute confidence in himself and his team. This translates on the track; after his impressive comeback in Austin, the young driver once again delivered a very strong performance during the Mexico qualifying.

Thus, he was able to set the fastest lap during the first stint in Q3. For a few minutes, he could hope to become the youngest pole-sitter in the history of the discipline. But that was without counting on the holder of this record, Sebastian Vettel, who managed to achieve a very fine last lap and secure his 50th pole position. However, he believed he drove better in Q3 but that his car was not at the same level of excellence: « I was very strong in Q2 but we lost a bit in Q3 due to the tires. I couldn’t get them to work, and I lacked grip. I would say the Q3 lap was better, but I didn’t have the same grip as in the previous session. »

But the Dutchman wasn’t lamenting having to settle for second place on the grid, the third of his career. The last time this situation occurred, in Singapore, it went badly for both protagonists as they didn’t get past the first turn. In Mexico, this first turn is much further away, which should help avoid a repeat of that collision, giving him high hopes of securing his third victory.

« It’s always nice to secure a pole position but winning the race is more important. I am confident in the car’s race pace and that we can achieve a good result. But we still need to prove it tomorrow. »

This lack of grip experienced by Max Verstappen in Q3 was also felt by his teammate, Daniel Ricciardo, throughout the entire session. What is even more surprising is that the engineers hadn’t made any modifications to the car after FP2 and FP3, which were concluded in the lead: « We were strong all weekend but in qualifying, I had no grip. I was on top in FP2 and Max did the same this morning. So, we hardly touched the car compared to yesterday but every time I left the pits today, I had no grip. »

To remedy this, the Australian tried to align himself with the strategy implemented by his teammate, namely to do two warm-up laps so that his tires would reach the ideal temperature, without success: « It seemed that the grip I had when leaving the pit was the same as what I had at the end of each stint. »

This pushed him back to 7th position, which already condemns him to an attacking race to climb back up the hierarchy.