Verstappen: The car lost speed due to damage

Max Verstappen set the fourth fastest time in qualifying for the British Grand Prix. The Red Bull Racing driver said he damaged the underside of his car when exiting turn nine, which affected his speed.

For his teammate Sergio Perez, qualifying was even worse. The Mexican driver crashed in turn nine in the first session, got stuck in the gravel and stopped fighting there.

Max Verstappen (4th): “In turn nine I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. In turn seven I saw the first raindrops on the visor of my helmet – in fact, I ended up on a part of the track where it was raining. I knew that the competitors at the front would have time to complete the lap, so despite the rain I had to continue the lap.

I tried to go as fast as possible, but it was very wet at the entrance to Copse. I went outside the optimal line, got into a wet area and slid on the gravel. I didn’t hit the wall, but unfortunately I damaged the bottom of the car. After that the goal was just to go to the next part.

The team did a great job optimising the loss of downforce, although the underbody was in a very bad state. I am happy to make it to the final because the car was not that fast anymore. So I am happy with fourth place at the start.

Of course I don’t like it when this happens, but sometimes you just can’t control some things. Of course I would have liked to start from pole position and I think we could count on first place, but even when you start from fourth place, a lot is possible.

I will probably have to attack more in the race, but I think it will be fun. We have a good race pace this weekend. We made some adjustments for qualifying to make the car better, but unfortunately I couldn’t show it because of the damage. Tomorrow we will put a new floor and we can have a good race.”

Sergio Perez (19th): “I had problems warming up the tyres and in turn nine it was very wet. I changed gear, the rear wheels locked and I flew off the road. I tried to brake but there was a lot of water in the departure hall and the car flew into the gravel and unfortunately got stuck.

It’s difficult for me because I let the team down. It’s especially difficult because we had a strong weekend before qualifying but I couldn’t demonstrate the speed that we have.

“The fight is very close, so we have an interesting race ahead of us. I hope I can reach the top quickly and that the situation on the track, for example the safety car, will bring me back into the fight. Anyway, tomorrow it is important to minimize the losses and earn some points.”