2023 British Grand Prix
Posted on8th July 2023, 20:099th September 2023, 23:50 | Written by Keith Collantine
Max Verstappen didn’t have an entirely smooth run to pole position at Silverstone as he crashed into the pit wall at one stage.
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He also had another run-in with rival Lewis Hamilton, following their meeting on-track at the Red Bull Ring a week ago
Verstappen broke his front wing when he hit the pit wall as he drove out of his garage at one stage during Q1. His Red Bull team had to push him back into the garage so a replacement could be fitted, after which he continued.
He called his error in the pits an ‘inchident’ – referencing Charles Leclerc’s famous description of a collision between the pair when they competed in karting. Verstappen said it occured after he made a scruffy start to the rain-affeted qualifying session.
“In Q1 I arrived to turn 15 the first time and I just went straight off,” he said. “So, it was very weird because turn 15 and 16, they were a bit damp and it was very difficult to see where exactly. You could only really feel it. So that took a bit of time to really get on top of.
“In general I was just trying to get the laps in. Of course, we knew that we had a quick car, so you don’t risk it all the way to get through, but still, that final lap. Of course I had my little ‘inchident’ in the pits, where I destroyed my front wing.”
Verstappen said he “had a bit of understeer out of the box” which sent him into the wall. “Too much rear grip. So I had to have a new front wing but that meant of course that I was in the back to start that final run, and that was quite exciting, that out-lap, passing a few cars here and there, to get the lap in. But luckily it was all good enough.”
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However he admitted the error “shows that it can also very quickly fall the other way and you’re out.”
The Red Bull driver also encountered his rival Hamilton on-track for the second qualifying session in a row. Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff accused Verstappen of committing a “revenge foul” on Hamilton by spoiling the start of his lap during sprint race qualifying in Austria last week.
On this occasion Verstappen was trying to pass cars ahead of him when he came across Hamilton. As the Mercedes driver was weaving to warm his tyres, the pair came close to colliding as Verstappen made his way past into Luffield.
“On the out lap. I had very cold tyres, most of the people in front of me had new tyres, but I stayed on my used set,” he explained. “So I just tried to get by. But of course he was trying to warm the tyres. So it took a bit of time to find a bit of space to go through.”
Footage of Verstappen overtaking the other Mercedes of George Russell as they approached a yellow flag at Brooklands was circulated on social media after qualifying, but the stewards have not indicated any offence was committed.
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