Honda expects relief for Verstappen: 'That must have been frustrating'

At Honda they have plenty of reasons to look forward to the French Grand Prix with great anticipation. With Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez on P1 and P4, there is plenty of reason for Red Bull Racing to expect a podium finish with Pierre Gasly on P6 for AlphaTauri the Italian team will be hoping for points.

"Verstappen is on pole and Perez in fourth place due to a few mistakes. We have two Mercedes cars in between, but I'm happy we achieved pole position," Toyoharu Tanabe explained in a conversation with AS-web. The Japanese technical director at Honda is happy that they finally have pole position again after Verstappen took the first of the season in Bahrain.

Relief after Monaco and Baku

"In Monaco and Azerbaijan, we were also fast, but were not helped both times by a red flag in Q3. This time, fortunately, all the drivers were able to attack to the maximum. I think it's very good that we have pole position here". Tanabe also expects Verstappen himself to be relieved.

"I think he also had a frustrating Q3 the last two Grands Prix, so then this result is very good". In Baku and Monaco Red Bull were clearly the fastest and in Paul-Ricard they surprisingly seem to be the fastest team again. "What's also nice is that we were not only able to show our speed on a street circuit, but also on a permanent circuit. Besides Verstappen's pole, we have three drivers in the top six. Of course, only the result in the race counts, but this was certainly not bad," Tanabe concludes.