McLaren Notes Verstappen's Strong Pace Today

Verstappen is set on victory, yet Marko urges caution. McLaren notes the Dutchman’s impressive pace, highlighting a strategic race day ahead.

While McLaren struggled on Spa’s wet track, and Max Verstappen, the fastest man on Saturday, dropped ten places on the grid, Charles Leclerc emerged with a pole position by default at Spa.

The time gap between Verstappen and second-placed Leclerc was substantial, however, at six-tenths, with Dr. Helmut Marko noting: “It’s clear that Max is by far the best driver in these conditions.”

“What was remarkable is that McLaren was not as strong on a wet track as it will likely be during the race.”

“This gives us a better situation for the start. It’s going to be a very exciting race.”

Despite the penalty for an engine change, Verstappen is in much better spirits in Belgium than he was a week ago in Hungary.

“The rain generally does me good,” the Dutchman declared.

“I did a lot of wet weather running last week on the simulator here,” Verstappen smiled before uttering another expletive!

“You see, the simulation isn’t so bad. As for those who think otherwise, they can go to hell!”

Saturday at Spa was also a good day for Leclerc, who has had recent difficulties behind the wheel of his Ferrari.

Marko was impressed but already predicts a challenging race for the Scuderia.

“Leclerc’s second-fastest time and therefore the pole are down to Leclerc and his performance. I don’t think Ferrari can hold this position in the dry.”

“If you look at this starting grid, things really couldn’t have gone better for us.”

The race, therefore, will tell a different story, as Verstappen aims to climb to the front from 11th place on Sunday’s starting grid.

“We’ve had issues with graining on the long runs,” Marko concedes, “and we have only two sets of medium tyres for the race.”

“There’s always a certain risk for the Grand Prix, but once again, things seem to be going a bit better for us. We had enough grip in the rain, but the cars are always set up so we can still overtake during the race.”

“If all goes well, we can aim for the podium. If we do better, it’ll be down to the Max factor!”

McLaren’s team principal, Andrea Stella, with his drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in 4th and 5th on the grid, isn’t so sure that Verstappen won’t in fact clinch an easy victory.

“For me,” he says, “Max remains the favourite.”

“He’s been fast in all conditions. He was the only one to reach Q3 with two new sets of intermediate tyres, and they were using less engine power than us in FP2.”

Leclerc, however, will be ahead of them when the five lights go out.

“Charles doesn’t need any extra boost in confidence,” Ferrari’s team boss, Frédéric Vasseur, stated, while continuing to shield his driver from criticism.

“I’m a bit surprised that anyone could imagine he wasn’t motivated enough. Obviously, the pole is a good boost and a reward for him even though we know points are scored on Sunday, not Saturday. But none of that was necessary and it has nothing to do with Charles’s motivation.”