Ludo van Denderen is a motorsport journalist at GPblog, specializing in Formula 1 and international racing series.
Max Verstappen did not expect to take pole for the sprint race in Singapore, the Dutchman admitted afterwards. "I’m very happy to be starting first."
Whether Max Verstappen will be allowed to start first on Saturday remains to be seen. The Dutchman is still under investigation for an incident in SQ1. In any case, Verstappen was able to enjoy the thrilling qualifying session immediately after getting out of the car. "It’s always close in Singapore," Verstappen said.
"The lap itself is as well, because you’re pushing as hard as possible between the walls. When we switched to the soft tyres, it felt like the car came a bit more to life. But I didn’t expect this. I’m very happy to be starting first."
RB22’s weaknesses came to the fore
Once again, Red Bull was very strong, following the last two weekends. "We were much stronger in the last two races. But on this track, the few weaknesses in the car come to the fore. We managed to drive around them as well as possible."
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Verstappen looked reasonably fresh, but admitted that it was very hot. "It’s like a sauna where you’re doing all kinds of exercises. It’s always extremely hot. You try to cool down as much as possible between runs. The entire cockpit is hot. Your feet, of course your whole body, your head. Especially when you’re stationary, it’s a heatwave. It’s never comfortable. That’s also what makes this place so unique. In a way, we also love it," Verstappen concluded.
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