P1racenews AI automatic summary:
He’s done it before. But Max Verstappen’s task of coming back at the Belgian Grand Prix is much tougher than the previous two years. Mark Hughes explains what his victory chances hinge on…
Max Verstappen’s Red Bull has a tendency to qualify fastest at Spa but then face grid penalties, a pattern that has been evident for the last two years. This time, he was fastest by over 0.6s ahead of Charles Leclerc thanks to using only one set of inters in Q1 and Q2, leaving him with two new sets for Q3, granting him a unique advantage. Verstappen, starting from 11th place, is not overly confident about repeating history on race day, viewing it as a damage limitation race. McLaren’s Lando Norris acknowledges Red Bull’s superiority this weekend, while Red Bull’s approach seems strategically different. McLaren’s lower downforce setup was suitable for the wet qualifying but might pose challenges in the dry race. Verstappen’s high-downforce wing choice might give him an edge in sectors 2, but its impact on race performance remains to be seen. Overall, Verstappen’s focus is on managing tire degradation, a crucial factor on the new track surface at Spa.
