French GP: Post-Qualifying reactions from Max and Perez

Championship leader Max Verstappen beat Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton by almost three tenths of a second to claim pole position for tomorrow’s 2021 French Grand Prix at Paul Ricard.

Max’s team mate Sergio Perez will line up on the grid at the rear of row two after being narrowly beaten to third place by Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas.

Surprisingly this will be Red Bull’s first ever pole position in France and fifth career pole for Max Verstappen and second pole of 2021 season.

After  first runs of Q3, Max seized an early advantage, claiming provisional pole with a lap of 1:30.325, almost four tenths of a second ahead of Hamilton who slotted into P2. Checo grabbed P3 a little under two tenths clear of Bottas.

But during final runs of Q3, both Lewis and Max up their game, the pair traded purple sectors but when Max crossed the finish line it was with a scorching time of 1:29.990, 0.258s ahead of Hamilton.

Checo was just behind Max on track and a time of 1:30.445 might have given him hope of a front row berth. But Both Hamilton and Bottas were able to edge ahead of the Mexican.

Max Verstappen (P1) :

“To be able to put it on pole here, on a track that has not been our favourite in terms of performance, is very promising and a big boost for the Team. We really did not expect it so I am of course very happy. Everything has been working really well all weekend and from today even compared to yesterday we made a good improvement through hard work and maximising set-up.”

“I was confident after FP3 but you never really know where you are or what everyone else will bring in Qualifying, so we should be very happy with this performance so far. There is a long run to turn one so we have to get a good start tomorrow and for sure they will be very close but our long run pace in FP2 looked good so I expect another tight battle.”

Sergio Perez (P4):

“It wasn’t an ideal qualifying as I think locking out the front row was possible but unfortunately I made a mistake on my final Q3 run which cost me quite a bit of lap time. We were going in the right direction and I was feeling comfortable with the car but I just ran wide over the kerbs at Turn 12 and the lap was gone. But tomorrow is when it matters and we have better race pace than in qualifying so we should really be in the mix. It will be very close with Mercedes so I will be applying the pressure from the very first lap.”

“My starts have been good so the plan is to get a couple of positions off the line and manage the race from there to try and bring home a 1-2 for the Team. I think the race will come down to tyre management so hopefully we can outperform them in that area but either way it’s going to be very entertaining for the fans and now I’m just looking forward to tomorrow!”

Christian Horner, Team Principal :

“It was another great performance from Max today and it’s fantastic to see him take our first pole position in France. Together we’ve been improving the car throughout the weekend and to have Checo up there as well, building on the momentum from his Baku victory, is a great Team performance. Starting from pole certainly gives us confidence but we’re expecting Mercedes to be very competitive tomorrow.

This circuit has been such a stronghold for them over recent years so it will be important to see if we can beat them here. There’s a lot at stake and a long way to go in this championship but the whole Team is working incredibly well, putting in long hours, and coming together as a unit to put the pressure on Mercedes which is phenomenal to see.

Having two cars starting at the front also gives us different strategic options in the race and so it will be important for us to do all the basics and get clean starts, execute quick pitstops and a good strategy.”