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Max Verstappen says he took Hockenheim’s Turn 1 flat out on his final run in Q3 in Saturday, and reckons he became the first Formula 1 driver ever to do so.
The Dutchman, who qualified fourth, said he also tried to take the right-hander into the stadium flat, but in the end had to make a tiny lift.
Verstappen’s feat shows just how much downforce is generated by the current cars, especially the Red Bull RB14.
“Into the stadium, I think Grosjean aborted his lap,” he explained. “So I wanted to take that corner flat, but I guess just having a bit of turbulence didn’t help.
“But for example sector one was really competitive. Turn 1 was flat for example, so that was good.”
He confirmed that he only attempted the feat when it really mattered, and he could in effect afford a mistake.
“Once, my last one,” he said. “You don’t want to smash your floor in Q1, so you just build up to it.
“That was nice. I don’t think anyone has taken it flat.”
Verstappen said he was not surprised by the pace of the cars ahead, given the usual benefits to be had from qualifying modes with the Mercedes and Ferrari engines.
“It is just the engine mode, very clear,” he added. “Ferrari, you can see it’s very logical, because Ferrari is quick, Haas is quick, Sauber is quick, and it’s always on power tracks. They have a really, really strong engine.
“[In the race] they cannot use the power mode they have all the time, so that would bring us a little bit closer.
“If it’s going to be enough, I’m not sure, but at least it’ll be a bit closer.”
Verstappen wanted to qualify in Q2 on the soft tyre, so he could use that for the start of the race, but a red flag spoiled the plan, and he had to join everyone else on ultrasofts in order to guarantee progression to Q3.
“I tried to qualify on the soft, but then with the red flag I aborted, and then I didn’t want to take the risk of maybe losing out,” he said. “There is a risk.
“But yeah, it was quite good that everybody else thought ultrasoft. At least it’s better for the start to be on the same tyre.
“[The soft] is normally a bit more robust, and you can go a bit longer on the first stint.
“I was fairly confident to do it on the soft, but unfortunately with the red flag it didn’t work out.”