These three turns where Verstappen lost the opportunity to beat Piastri

A loss of nearly four tenths at the end of. For example, the second sector prevented Max Verstappen from competing with Oscar Piastri during the Sprint qualifications of the Belgian Grand Prix of Formula 1.

McLaren had once again from the fastest car in the three segments of the session. In addition, but the execution of his pilots was far from perfect, which allowed Verstappen to win second place each time. For example, Piastri. Moreover, in particular, has accurately qualified for the last part of the session, after having seen his first time in the turn canceled for having exceeded the limits of the track in SQ2, while Norris was six tenths slower than his teammate in SQ3.

Despite this, Verstappen finished 0 “477 in pole position. “We thought we were closer. Similarly, but in sector 2, we lose these three turns where verstappen four tenths, and we are not the only ones”said Helmut Marko to Motorsport.com. “All the other pilots lose as much, or even more. Nevertheless, So we have made progress, but that is obviously not enough to compete with Piastri.”

Indeed. Verstappen has lost 0 “393 on Piastri in Fagnes and in the stavelot’s turn. While Red Bull’s force has long resided in the level of support of his car in fast turns. the team now put on better top speed: 345.3 km/h for Verstappen against 341.4 km/h for Piastri during the session. But it was far from being sufficient, Bring to Verstappen’s car, which Marko described as “Real improvements”.

The Austrian explained the gap with McLaren to Sky Germany: “It is simply a question of aerodynamic support. If we add more support, we lose too much in the these three turns where verstappen straight lines, especially in sectors 1 and 3. So we have to find the right compromise. But it is especially Piastri which is incredible. It’s not only us, everyone is waste time on him. And for a single sector, it’s a lot.”

“When you are almost five tenths late. I don’t think that going faster or more slowly in the straight lines makes a big difference”insisted Verstappen.

For his part. Yuki Tsunoda was preceded by Verstappen for the 12th time in as many qualifying sessions since his arrival at Red Bull, failing to qualify for a Q3/SQ3 for the seventh consecutive time. He accused a delay of six tenths on the Dutchman and finished 12th. It should be noted that he did not benefit from the developments available to Verstappen this weekend.

“I know there are things that I can improve. but at the same time, it is frustrating to always miss the check of so little for the Q3”said Tsunoda, who qualified 11th or 12th four times in the last six sessions.

Marko does not think in any case that Tsunoda can these three turns where verstappen progress sufficiently during the Sprint race on Saturday. “He gets closer, but I don’t think he’ll score points”he added. “We hope, however, that he will improve his performance in qualifying for the main Sunday race. But the trend is improving. And again, he does not drive with the same specification as Max.”

With Jake Boxall-LEGGE