UNEXPECTED ANNOUNCEMENT: Verstappen openly proclaimed his intention: “I’m no longer the leader of the pack,” and explained why.
Max Verstappen admitted he is no longer leading the group and believes he and Red Bull are “chasing” after qualifying third for the Hungarian Grand Prix behind McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
The three-time world champion and series leader has only won one pole position in six Grands Prix, as Red Bull’s significant performance advantage has eroded and rival teams have caught up or passed them.
Verstappen has taken 40 pole positions in his career, but only one – in Austria – since dominating the early season races by taking seven in succession before his spell was broken by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc at the Monaco Grand Prix.
“I love competition,” he said on Saturday. “But I like being on top of the competition. At the moment, I feel like we are chasing and having a few more difficult weekends.
“I don’t back out of a fight, but it’s just a tricky situation I guess.”
Despite his diminishing luck in qualifying, he has managed to remain a strong race contender despite the absence of real support from struggling teammate Sergio Perez, and enters Sunday’s race with an 84-point lead over Norris in the drivers’ championship race.
However, as their performance advantage dwindles, Red Bull has appeared increasingly stretched and desperate in their effort to defend their crowns, as the Dutchman conceded when he welcomed the team’s substantial improvement package this weekend.
“Let’s see,” he said, when asked about his prospects in the race. “The last few races, the McLaren especially has been really good in the race even compared to qualifying.
“Today was a lot colder than expected, I guess, with the clouds and the rain, and tomorrow is going to be quite a different day so I just hope that will help us.”
The changing weather conditions have influenced and affected recent results as Mercedes won in Austria and Britain, but struggled in the heat at the Hungaroring where McLaren shone on Saturday.
“I tried,” said Verstappen. “The whole weekend we have been a little bit behind and I think that was also the case in qualifying.
“I ried to make it as close as possible, but unfortunately just not enough.
– Tense and close’
“It’s a bit difficult to pin-point why that is, but I would have liked a bit more grip, but it’s not there at the moment.
“P3 is still very close, but I just hope that for tomorrow the car is good in the race and at least we can follow them and see what we can do there.”
In a tight and close wet-dry session on Saturday, the top eight qualifiers were separated by only one-tenth of a second, with the top three within hundredths of a second of one another. Norris, 24, outpaced Piastri by 0.022 seconds,
leaving Verstappen three-hundredths of a second behind in third place, ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, who leaves the team at the end of the year, and Mercedes’ seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton, who will replace him.
It was Norris’s second pole in four races and the third of his burgeoning career as he gains front-running experience in his bid to challenge Verstappen who, on Sunday seeks to complete a hat-trick of Hungarian wins.
The Dutchman has led the drivers’ title race for a record 51 successive races since May 2022 and is third in the all-time standings with 61 wins, behind Hamilton on 104 and Michael Schumacher on 91.
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