Max Verstappen secured a front row spot at Spa thanks to a perfectly executed strategy with Isack Hadjar. However, the Dutchman reveals he had a brief scare during their qualifying maneuver.
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Max Verstappen admitted to having a brief moment of concern during the Belgian Grand Prix qualifying. Assisted by his teammate Isack Hadjar, the Red Bull driver managed to secure second place on the grid, but the final attempt in Q3 led to a particularly tense scene.
The plan was simple: Hadjar, condemned to start at the back of the grid, was to provide a slipstream to his teammate, especially in the last sector of the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, which is particularly favorable for gains thanks to slipstreaming.
This strategy paid off as Verstappen managed to climb to the front row, just behind Kimi Antonelli, who took pole position. According to the four-time world champion, without his teammate’s help, he would probably have had to settle for a much further back position on the grid.
“It clearly helped me. Without that, I would probably be sixth or seventh,” Verstappen explained after the session.
A scare on the final flying lap
While the collaboration between the two Red Bull drivers worked perfectly, it also nearly turned into a problem. During his final fast lap in Q3, Verstappen found himself extremely close to the rear of Hadjar’s car in the last part of the circuit.
On screen, the scene could have suggested that the Dutchman had to lift off to avoid contact. However, Verstappen denied this, assuring that he stayed flat out and fully trusted his young teammate.
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“No, I was flat out. I would have just pushed him! It was close, but he did an incredible job,” he explained.
The Red Bull driver nevertheless admitted to having an instinctive reaction when seeing Hadjar’s car rapidly approaching.
“At first, I thought: ‘Oh my God, that’s too close.’ But in the end, everything went well until the last corner. It was tight, but I trusted him.“
Hadjar, a key role despite his penalty
Isack Hadjar’s performance did not go unnoticed at Red Bull. Knowing he would start at the back of the grid on Sunday, the Frenchman perfectly fulfilled his support role in qualifying.
Verstappen also highlighted the quality of execution by his teammate, who was able to adjust his positioning between the two Q3 attempts to maximize the effectiveness of the slipstream.
Thanks to this strategy, Red Bull places Verstappen in second position on the starting grid, with a real opportunity to fight for victory against Antonelli. But the Dutchman knows the race will be a whole different challenge, especially with tire management and the difficulty of following closely on the Belgian track.
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