Reigning World Champion Max Verstappen has rejected claims from Fernando Alonso that Red Bull are working to “perfection”, with the Dutchman instead noting that they are simply “doing a lot of things well”.
Verstappen was unbeatable again on Saturday to claim his third consecutive pole position of the season, putting him in the best position looking ahead to Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix.
The two-time World Champion mastered the wet conditions in Q3 to storm to pole position, for the 25th time in his Formula 1 career.
It was an incredibly challenging qualifying given how the Circuit de Gilles-Villeneuve changed from wet to dry, before returning to being wet towards the end of Q2 and into Q3.
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Strong communication was the key to Verstappen’s pole position, with the pitwall having worked tirelessly to ensure that the championship leader was on the right tyres at the right time.
Q2 was perhaps when the conditions were at their most difficult, given that several drivers switched to the Soft compound whilst the circuit was still damp in places.
Verstappen explained after the session how he wasn’t prepared to “risk too much” in Q2 whilst on the slick compound, with the Dutchman having ultimately been “very happy” at how himself and the team communicated.
“I think it’s mainly just about communicating well with the pit wall,” Verstappen told Sky Sports F1. “Just very happy with how we executed everything.
“I think we made the right calls even in Q2, there was no need to go straight out on the slick tyre. I think it was better to do a bit of a banker lap on the inter.
“We put a few laps in on the slicks, I think it was a bit slippery out there but I didn’t risk too much.”
Verstappen will once again be joined by Fernando Alonso on the front row of the grid, after Nico Hulkenberg was slapped with a three-place grid penalty.
The Haas driver remarkably put his VF-23 on the front row of the grid; however, he was awarded with a grid drop after speeding whilst the circuit was under red flag conditions.
Hulkenberg’s penalty gives Alonso a clear run into Turn 1, where he’ll be hoping to finally get ahead of Verstappen.
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Alonso believes Red Bull and Verstappen are currently working to “perfection”; however, Verstappen insists that the Austrians can’t start “dreaming too much”.
“I think we’re doing a lot of things well,” Verstappen said.
“Of course it’s very enjoyable to be part of the team. It’s going really well but we can’t sit still, we can’t be dreaming too much and we have to be on it again tomorrow.”