Red Bull’s Max Verstappen qualified second in Imola after an outstanding first sector carried momentum.
Afer raising doubts over Red Bull’s chances of challenging for victory this weekend at the Imola Grand Prix, Max Verstappen quashed them by securing P2 during qualifying.
The reigning world champion had a stunning first sector, closing the gap to pole position winner Oscar Piastri.
Verstappen talked through his lap, but is focused on Sunday’s race.
“Yeah, I think everything was going really well. Just the softest compound is very difficult to keep them alive around the lap. So, yeah, Sector 1 was good and then the tyres again fell away from me from there onwards – tiny margins.
“But I mean, it was cool. But then you could see George, he set his lap on the Medium, so, yeah, maybe they were a bit too soft for this track, and for us at least it was a bit more difficult to extract the most out of it.
“I felt a bit happier on the Medium, but the race is tomorrow. That’s where you score the points, of course, so that’s what we have to focus on. But I do think that today was a very good day for us.”
The Dutchman has taken victory in just one race to date in 2025, and currently sits 3rd in the Drivers Championship behind the McLaren duo.
Fight with McLaren
Throughout the F1 season, Verstappen has had many fights with current Constrctors’ Championship leader McLaren. When asked if there’s going to be a big fight tomorrow against them, Verstappen was honest.
“Let’s see. I mean, the last race was not really a fight. I hope that we just pick up a bit of pace, have a bit more of a stable car, and then hopefully we can look after our tyres a bit better.”
Red Bull’s tyre troubles
Verstappen has had problems with the RB21, as well as with his tyre management through FP1 to FP3
Verstappen noted this and pointed out that the car was performing better in qualifying. However, he revealed overheating tyres hindered him more, as he said: “I think compared to yesterday, we improved a lot again. The car is a lot nicer to drive. The only problem I had in qualifying was basically the faster I wanted to go, the more problems I had with the tyres just overheating.
“That was holding me back in Q3 already, run one. And then when I tried to go faster on the second run, Sector 1 was great, and then I just ran out of tyres. I just started understeering more, and just tried to keep the lap together. But yeah, that’s a bit of a shame.
“Of course, we came in and I saw George was on a Medium. And honestly, I also felt better in FP3 on the Medium. But you don’t really have the tyres to qualify on it properly. And of course, for tomorrow, we want to make sure we have the tyres in a good window.”
When asked if he is experimenting with his tyres, Verstappen continued and said: “Quite a bit because it’s the first time with the C6 as well, so I think no one is really on top of it yet. But it’s clear that probably for a track like this, it’s really on the limit or already a bit over the limit.”
RB21 upgrades
On Friday, Max Verstappen noted that the RB21 is currently lacking the pace needed to compete at the top end of the field, with a lack of balance evident throughout FP1 along with a tendency to bottom out under load.
When Verstappen was asked if the developments are coming through for the RB21, he believed that the team has put it in a better window.
He said, “Yesterday was a tough start, but I think today we definitely put it in a better window.
“I was a bit happier with how the car was coming alive, and also the balance of the car. So that’s a positive. It’s just that the tyre compounds this weekend didn’t really help us by being that soft, because we know we overheat our tyres more than we would like. So that is still a focus point for us.”
When asked about the race ahead of him with the car, the reigning World Champion said: “I don’t know. I’ll just try to do a good start and see where I’m at with the pace, because yesterday wasn’t particularly good in the long run also.
“And then yeah, just see with the new set-up we have on the car. Hopefully, it all sticks a bit better on the tarmac and, hopefully, in general, a bit more competitive.”
Strategic Tyres
Due to Pirelli bringing in the C6, a tyre that wasn’t conceived for the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari track, it leaves a wide range of strategic plans to be formulated.
Max Verstappen acknowledged this, but wasn’t to sure on the implications, as he said: “I don’t know yet. I don’t think many people will touch the C6 if you need to do a lot of laps in a row, but we’ll see tomorrow.”
When asked if the C6 was compromising things due to excessive management, he added: “Yeah, I think it’s just the layout of this track. Too many high-speed corners. Probably when you go to a more low-speed corner track, it probably will be a little bit better. So, let’s see next week how that will go.”.
Fun at Imola
As Imola returned to the F1 calendar in 2020 after a 14-year absence, Imola quickly reasserted itself as a fan favourite, especially with Ferrari’s Tifosi.
As one of F1’s older tracks, it includes gravel traps and grass, elements which are unheard of in modern F1 circuits.
But due to modern F1 cars getting bigger and bigger every year, it is harder for them to manoeuvre around Imola’s narrow circuit track.
The Dutchman agreed that tracks like Imola have to stay on the F1 calendar, as he said: “Yeah, I 100% agree. It depends also a bit on the cars, right? I do think the cars that we have now just don’t really work that nicely on a street circuit, unfortunately. They’re way too big, too stiff, too heavy. I would say they don’t really come alive compared to like, 2016 even.
“I know the lap times were a lot slower, but at least then, on a street circuit, the car still came alive a bit. You could take some kerbs, and it was working. Now everything feels a bit dull. But yeah, on tracks like this, it is a lot of fun. So many fast corners, and the limit is the gravel or the grass. That makes it more exciting and more difficult to nail.”
Yuki Tsunoda’s Crash
Verstappen’s team-mate, Yuki Tsunoda, suffered a crash during the Q1 session, which has left him in P20 for the race in Imola.
Verstappen, when asked what he was thinking, did not hesitate and said: “Well, first, of course, I asked if he’s OK. And I heard yeah, he’s OK. But then I saw the replay — I’m like, ‘Jesus, is he really OK?’
“It was a big impact, a lot of damage as well. But the most important is that Yuki is okay. I’ll probably see him in a bit.”
