Max Verstappen said fourth on the grid was the best he could hope for after damaging his car when he spun off at Copse during qualifying.
The Red Bull driver said his high-speed trip through the gravel during Q1 broke parts of his floor and cost him around 100 points of down force. “Which is a lot,” he said. “A lot. We got it down a little bit, but it was still a lot.”He said his spin was “super-unlucky” as rain began to fall as he reached the corner while running on slicks. “I came out of seven heading towards Copse and it started to rain,” he said. “So I knew that the people in front of me didn’t have that rain patch and of course they were on slicks. And I knew in Q1 we needed that slick lap in because you never know if it’s going to rain more and then the session is over.
“So naturally I tried to keep the speed up. I did slow down, knowing, because it was raining on my visor. But it still snapped on me and then I had to try and keep it out of the wall going off-line.
“Then I had to take the gravel, which ripped the floor apart. [Lost] quite a few bits on the car, even though I do think the team did a great job of trying to recover some of the bits and tried to optimise the balance front to rear.
“But that basically ruined our qualifying. I was happy to be in Q3 already with the damage that we had. At the end to be P4 is probably a bit of a positive surprise.”
Red Bull did repair work on Verstappen’s car each time he came into the pits between qualifying sessions. “The floor had a lot of holes in it,” he explained. “So you of course try to patch that up.
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“A few bits were missing or hanging, like flapping. So you want to get rid of that or at least try to put a few pieces together and try and make it work.
“That’s basically what they did. They cut a few bits off that were hanging loose so you try to just optimise the losses.”
Although Red Bull were able to improve his floor during the session, it also changed the car’s balance, which he had to compensate for at the wheel.
“I had a little moment at [Aintree]. But honestly they kept repairing the floor so my balance was shifting every lap and then I was changing things on my wheel every lap to try and find a better compromise.
“Probably in some bits we tipped it over the edge to try and compensate. But it was still a good lap. I tried to really push it to the limit, tried to really use the track wherever I could, because naturally in the very high speed, the load wasn’t there. I was going slower in some corners compared to practice. But it was the best we could do with that damage.”
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MadMax (@madmax)
6th July 2024, 17:47
unlucky? made a mistake all by himself
PeterG
6th July 2024, 18:51
It was unlucky in that he got to the corner just as it started to rain harder.
Magnussen was the next car through and he also went off. Drivers behind them had warning about it raining harder at that part of the track, Max & Kmag did not.
MadMax (@madmax)
6th July 2024, 19:45
He just has problems to adopt to wet conditions. Like in the China Sprint qualy.
melanos
6th July 2024, 20:13
Or Brazil 2016 (best drive of the present millennium)
Bhopp
6th July 2024, 21:37
Hate the guy, but that wet weather drive was sublime
N
6th July 2024, 22:19
After he span?
Oxnard (@montalvo)
6th July 2024, 23:25
Lol, you’ve got to be kidding right.
Ajaxn
6th July 2024, 21:12
He tends to do that in the wet. So much for superior race craft.
Bosco Moroz
6th July 2024, 23:17
As a driver, a spin is not “bad” unless it ends your day. It happens and you learn hard limits. I always tend to go faster after a spin personally on track. Some drivers lose confidence while others just learn from it and move forward. As for 2016 Brazil, Look at Max, spin, then arguably best wet drive possibly. At that point, all discussion of him being a future world champion were spot on.
FrankT
6th July 2024, 22:06
It must be hard when you’re so occupied with a driver you don’t like. I feel for you.
MadLewis (@madlewis)
7th July 2024, 7:24
Chill out man…. Your’re so full of hatred towards Max. It’s so obvious. You’ll need to see a psychologist for your Max trauma.
Jere (@jerejj)
6th July 2024, 17:59
Even though the remaining floor damage will be fixed in time for the race, he still won’t necessarily get past Norris & the Mercs easily.
..
6th July 2024, 18:17
your biased
Jazz (@jazz)
6th July 2024, 18:24
Verstappen’s usually had difficulty navigating Copse, no surprises this time around.
Damon (@damon)
6th July 2024, 18:49
F1 cars are annoyingly fragile.
David West
6th July 2024, 19:02
RB is very quick, 4 tenths off pole with a damaged floor.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
6th July 2024, 19:35
Yes, looks pretty good, and not surprised that the red bull pit crew and verstappen managed to fix a bit the problem between sessions and still get a decent time.
In the race he should be a victory contender as well.
Whitedog
6th July 2024, 20:09
I thought verstappen was that talented that he can put a car on pole no matter what….A slight bit of damage should not stop a man of his talent surely.
EffWunFan (@cairnsfella)
7th July 2024, 9:47
Meaning Red Bull of course. Not actual RB.
Roth Man (@rdotquestionmark)
6th July 2024, 19:26
I take it this can be repaired on safety grounds for tomorrow? Exempt from parc ferme rules?
anon
6th July 2024, 19:43
Yes, the FIA does allow teams to repair components which have been damaged due to an accident or due to running off track.
juan fanger (@juan-fanger)
7th July 2024, 1:03
As long as the replacement part is identical, otherwise back of the grid.
That is a brand new floor design, and both VER and PER will have damaged them. So obviously if there are 2 spare new floors then no problems, if there is only one then Max will get it and Checo will drop one place to behind Gasly. But if there are no spare new-design floors then the best Red Bull can do is patch up Max’s with bits of carbon duct tape and hope it all stays together.
Or, put an old one in as a replacement and tell the FIA that it is identical. SOP.
Edvaldo
6th July 2024, 20:08
Quite a messy session from Max. But given the other driver is a dead weight, people will be fast in blaming the car.
Jockey Ewing
6th July 2024, 20:11
Maybe it would be the best to take the engine penalty now, and fully repair the floor as well.
EffWunFan (@cairnsfella)
7th July 2024, 9:56
Some fairly conclusive comments here, both for and against Max’s performance.
Did we see the floor damage (and if we did, do we actually know the real impact?). Of course Red Bull’s advantage has been eroded, but – and I say this as someone who really does not ‘like’ Max – he has been consistently performing at a very high level. I have little doubt that he has got the most – or close to it – out of the car, and his spin was not unsuprising, nor particularly reflective of poor driving, given his attempts to drag out the best time in the conditions.
David
7th July 2024, 11:36
Horner said the floor damage was costing upwards of a second a lap, so depends if you believe him or not.
If true then the Red Bull is over half a second a lap quicker than the field, depending on conditions.
baasbas
7th July 2024, 13:40
@David
Lol, Horner.. I read an article discussing race pace. Lando was quickest with Verstappen close second (+0.05). Small gap to Mercedes’ cars.. (+0.17 and +0.21)
It might get interesting with the slightly faster cars behind both Mercs. Throw in maybe a shower somewhere and see who gets the strategy right. It could be a cracker