2021 Brazilian GP : Post-Sprint comments from Max and Checo

Max Verstappen will start tomorrow’s São Paulo Grand Prix from the front row of the grid after the Sprint at Interlagos was won by Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas.

Sergio Pérez will start fourth after being edged out of the top three by Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Max’s Mercedes title rival Lewis Hamilton will start from P10 after climbing from last on the grid to fifth in the 24-lap Sprint.

Max was handed a 50,000 Euros fine for testing the wing discrepancy after qualifying by touching the rear wing on Hamilton’s car in Parc Fermé after qualifying, also a breach of regulations.

Max Verstappen (P2)

“We started on the harder compound and as soon as I saw Valtteri was on the softs I knew it would be quite tricky to keep position, especially in these colder track temperatures. After the first lap we had good pace but it’s hard to overtake here and the tyres overheat a lot so there’s not much you can do so I ended up sitting behind.

At the end of the day I always try to do the best I can and it was good to score a few points today. Tomorrow is the important day and it will be different when we have more options with pit strategies. Let’s see what happens tomorrow, it’s going to be quite a bit warmer so hopefully that will be better for us but it’s difficult to say at the moment.”

Sergio Perez (P4)

“It was difficult to get past Carlos Sainz today, I thought I was going to get him quite easily, but I couldn’t get the exit right in the final corner and that effected my ability to pass him. We were expecting to hold them back at the start but that wasn’t the case in the end.

The main issue I was having today was that Sainz was always getting a good exit out of the final corner while my tyres were overheating. The straight-line speed of the Ferrari was quite strong too. Tomorrow is the race that matters, there is still a lot to play for and we can take more risks than today.

I could have made up that position today but it would have involved taking too many risks, more than I would like. I would like to move forwards in the race tomorrow, we will be pushing from the start and try to make the progress we want.

It’s important to have a good starting position tomorrow and then work from there, I hope I can get through the Ferrari quickly and have good pace from lap one. We will learn from what we have done today and be stronger tomorrow.”

Christian Horner, Team Principal

“We got two points today and they will be vital in the championship battle, so that’s a positive. Mercedes’ speed today is no great surprise, it has been coming for a few races now. In Turkey it started to appear and in Mexico their straight-line speed was about 14km quicker than us at the end of the straight. We saw it again yesterday, and in a straight-line nobody can live with them.

But tomorrow is a different race.It looks like track conditions will be hotter and strategy will be key, we need to get a good start into turn one. We were on the medium tyres today and so we still have the softs to come, and as always in Brazil, anything can happen come race day.

We’ve got to get our heads down and concentrate on what we do. We need to have both cars up there challenging for points. We are on the front row with Max and Checo is right behind him, so we are going to go for it and see what we can come away with.”