▲ The Mexican driver has still not found his racing rhythm and will have to redouble his efforts this weekend if he hopes to get back on the podium in the Austrian race, just as he did last year, when he finished third. Photo Afp
From the Editorial
The newspaper La Jornada
Saturday June 29, 2024, p. a10
The Dutchman Max Verstappen, from Red Bull, wants to evade any pressure towards his fourth title in Formula 1, so he sought perfection to stay with the pole position from the race to sprint of the Austrian Grand Prix. In contrast, his teammate, Mexican Sergio Pérez, had a very different result when facing complications that relegated him to seventh place.
The race in Austria is usually the most important competition for the Red Bull team, since having its origins in the European country means racing at home. Verstappen pleased the thousands of fans who turned the stands of the Spielberg circuit orange with a great performance, while Pérez must have been more skillful to overcome certain unforeseen events.
With frustration, the man from Guadalajara assured that he was affected by Esteban Ocon, from Alpine, who obstructed his path and prevented him from achieving the expected time. In his only opportunity in Q3, Pérez settled for a time of 1:06.008, very far from Verstappen’s.
We had a promising pace, unfortunately we couldn’t show it in SQ3, because Ocon was ahead. My final lap was two tenths behind him and I couldn’t go faster. It was a disaster, I hope we can recover tomorrow, he said.
Now, Perez will have to redouble his efforts this weekend in the main race if he hopes to get back on the podium in the Austrian race, just as he did last year with third place.
Verstappen, on the other hand, was better able to handle the pressure. Chased in the general classification by McLaren’s Lando Norris, the Dutchman did not hesitate for a moment on the Red Bull Ring track.
The reigning three-time world champion dominated a highly tactical Q3, in which the drivers came out at the last minute to do just one flying lap. He set a time of 1:04.686 to beat Norris and his McLaren teammate, Australian Oscar Piastri, by 93 and 301 thousandths of a second respectively.
“I am very happy to get first place in the qualifying session of the race sprint “We had a great weekend in front of our home fans,” said a proud Verstappen. “It was a comfortable car to drive and we quickly found the right settings. It’s a very good start to the weekend,” he added.
With the pole position, the F1 champion took some pressure off in the title fight, in which Norris is in second place. The Briton currently seems to be the only threat to the Dutchman’s dominance after achieving five podiums in the last six Grands Prix, including the victory in Miami.
With information from AFP
2024-06-29 08:25:32
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