Max Verstappen makes it back-to-back pole in 2021 Formula 1 season after taking first ever career pole at Red Bull Ring in 2021 Styrian Grand Prix qualifying.
This will be Red Bull’s first ever Pole at their Home Turf and first back-to-back Poles in Formula 1 since 2013 season and Max’s third pole position of the season.
Verstappen looked comfortable all weekend long in his car, The Dutch man delivered when it really matters in the final qualifying session. Championship leader Verstappen set provisional pole with his first run and his second lap was also good enough to take top spot.
Sergio Perez struggled in Q1 & Q2 before finding right balance in Q3. The Mexican Qualified in P5 but he will start the race in P4 behind McLaren’s Lando Norris in P3.
Verstappen will start tomorrow’s race on Medium tires while his teammate Sergio Perez set to start on Red Soft tires.
Max Verstappen (P1)
“It is of course a great result to take the Team’s first pole position at our home track and I feel very good about that. We made a big step forward in qualifying this year and although the car has been competitive and pretty easy to set-up all weekend we still made some good changes for qualifying.
From my side, the first lap in Q3 felt pretty good. Around here you don’t have many corners but it is actually quite hard to nail the lap because of the braking up to Turn 3 and 4 where it is easy to lose a tenth if you make a tiny mistake.
When I started driving in F1 this was always one of the tracks that I felt good at and as there aren’t many corners the driver can make a big difference, which I like. Some tracks are pretty straight forward on how you take corners but here there are a few options for that which makes it more enjoyable.
I expect it will be super tight again tomorrow. We know Mercedes have a strong race car and they are pretty good on the tyres so it will be very close, which I think is also good for the fans and the way everyone likes it.”
Sergio Perez (P5)
“I’m a bit disappointed with qualifying today, especially Q1, as I think it really compromised our session. We had to use a second set of tyres for the second run in Q1 as I wasn’t totally happy with the balance on the first run.
Then for my first lap in Q3 I was on used tyres and it was looking pretty good but when we went on to the new tyre it was a very complicated lap and I did not improve as much as I hoped. We just have to analyse what happened there on the first run and go from there, especially as the margins are extremely tight here and the midfield are also right up there.
We still have a very good strategy in place for tomorrow, starting on the softs, and there’s a long race ahead and still plenty to play for so I’m looking forward to it. I believe we can have a good solid race. Well done to Max today too, he’s done a great job.”
Christian Horner, Team Principal :
“It was another great Team performance today, securing our first pole position at the Red Bull Ring. Max did a great job once again, completing two laps in Q3 that were quick enough for pole and achieving his first back-to-back pole positions. After a clean run for Max in Q1 we elected to put him on the medium tyre in Q2 and he made it through with ease.
Checo found more and more time each session, electing to take the soft tyre for Q2 which gives us a strategic difference between cars for the race tomorrow and an optimal starting strategy.
A strong run on Checo’s first set of scrubbed soft tyres in Q3, and an improvement on his new set means he will now start P4 tomorrow after Valtteri’s grid penalty is applied.
Checo needs to get past Lando quickly, which I think he can, and then we need to try and put pressure on Lewis in order to maximise the race result. One thing is for sure, it will be a closely fought battle at the front.”
