Max after Spa qualifying: "I'm hoping to overtake a lot"

Published on 22 August 2015 by Stefan Meens

Max Verstappen will start from P18 on the grid for Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps. Despite making Q2, the Dutchman refrained from setting a lap time on the faster tyres due to a 10-place grid penalty awarded after FP2, after Toro Rosso were forced to change the engine. At the front, Lewis Hamilton claimed a commanding pole position ahead of team mate Nico Rosberg and Williams' Valtteri Bottas and Romain Grosjean in the Lotus.

Max: “There was no point heading out again on Q2 knowing we had a grid penalty. So instead of trying to make it into Q3, we decided to save a set of tyres for the race. However, we have to make sure the engine works properly because we had an issue with that. But our race pace should be good so I'm going to do everything to overtake my way through the field.”

Prior to qualifying, the drivers hit the Belgian tarmac for FP3 in which Max set the thirteenth quickest lap. “I had some power issues but in general I'm happy with FP3. The long runs went well compared to Red Bull so I think our race pace is fine.”

A good race pace and set-up are more than ever vital for Max as the Dutchman head into qualifying with the knowledge of a 10-place grid penalty being applied to his position after qualifying. Nevertheless, the 17-year-old headed out with the aim of making the most of qualifying. A flying lap on the softer Pirellis, despite engine issues, put Max through to Q2.

“Again we had an engine issue. Renault are still looking into it but basically I lost power in the first five gears. It felt like a cooling down lap in which you charge the batteries. It meant I lost three to four tenths in my flying lap on top of having to change settings on my steering wheel. All in all a wasted Q1.”

In the second part of qualifying, which is briefly halted after Kimi Raikkonen's stranded Ferrari prompts a red flag, Max heads out for just one run on a set of mediums. By not attempting to qualify for Q3, the Dutchman saves a set of the softer compound for race day. Other drivers that do not make it past Q2 are Raikkonen, Marcus Ericsson, Daniil Kvyat and Nico Hulkenberg.

“The issues with the engine are just disappointing, especially in a qualifying session in which I wanted to show what I'm capable of. I'm giving my best but when the mechanical side of things lets you done, there isn’t much you can do. I'll just have to deal with it”, says a dejected Max. “Every session during this weekend, there was something. Again it happened to me. I've had enough of it. There's a limit to being positive all the time. We really have to make sure this situation stops because I cant stand it.”

In the final part of qualifying, it's business as usual for Mercedes who lock out the front row. Hamilton wins the Mercedes team battle as Valtteri Bottas heads the best of the rest ahead of Romain Grosjean and Sergio Perez. Sebastian Vettel was perhaps the surprise in Q3 by only qualifying in ninth, sharing a row with Max' team mate Carlos Sainz.

Despite a disappointing qualifying Max vows to fight in the race. “We'll have to keep our options open. Our speed on the straight is a bit closer to our competitors which is encouraging. Hopefully I'm able to give my fans a race with plenty of overtakes.”

Spa-Francorchamps - Belgian Grand Prix - Saturday 22 August

 RESULTS QUALIFYING
 P No Driver             Team          Q1       Q2       Q3     Laps
 1 44 Lewis Hamilton     Mercedes      1:48.908 1:48.024 1:47.197 16
 2  6 Nico Rosberg       Mercedes      1:48.923 1:47.955 1:47.655 17
 3 77 Valtteri Bottas    Williams      1:49.026 1:49.044 1:48.537 19
 4  8 Romain Grosjean    Lotus         1:49.353 1:48.981 1:48.561 17
 5 11 Sergio Perez       Force India   1:49.006 1:48.792 1:48.599 16
 6  3 Daniel Ricciardo   Red Bull      1:49.664 1:49.042 1:48.639 17
 7 19 Felipe Massa       Williams      1:49.688 1:48.806 1:48.685 15
 8 13 Pastor Maldonado   Lotus         1:49.568 1:48.956 1:48.754 17
 9  5 Sebastian Vettel   Ferrari       1:49.264 1:48.761 1:48.825 17
10 55 Carlos Sainz       Toro Rosso    1:49.109 1:49.065 1:49.771 12
11 27 Nico Hulkenberg    Force India   1:49.499 1:49.121          12
12 26 Daniil Kvyat       Red Bull      1:49.469 1:49.228          11
13  9 Marcus Ericsson    Sauber        1:49.523 1:49.586          12
14  7 Kimi Räikkönen     Ferrari       1:49.288                    8
15 33 Max Verstappen     Toro Rosso    1:49.831                   10
16 12 Felipe Nasr        Sauber        1:49.952                    6
17 22 Jenson Button      McLaren       1:50.978                    6
18 14 Fernando Alonso    McLaren       1:51.420                    6
19 28 Will Stevens       Marussia      1:52.948                    6
20 98 Roberto Merhi      Marussia      1:53.099                    7 

On Twitter and Facebook we'll keep you updated throughout the weekend followed by a full report on Verstappen.nl at the end of the day’s action.

You can find the schedule for the Belgian Grand Prix here. 

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