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Verstappen already spoke to Masi: "Maybe should have stopped few seconds earlier"

28 August 2021 at 17:38
Last update 28 August 2021 at 20:33
  • GPblog.com

Max Verstappen was extremely focused in the final stages of qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix, he said in the post-race press conference. The fifteen-time Grand Prix winner also said that he had spoken to Michael Masi about the red flag situation on Saturday afternoon.

"In Q3 you have to risk a bit more. But you shouldn't push too much, because then you're eighth or ninth. In the rain you have to be much more careful than when it's dry," Verstappen explained in the presence of De Telegraaf and others. "If you brake or turn in too late, you lose a lot more time. With hindsight, I like it now, but once in the car, you have to be very focused. You can also screw it up completely. It's not easy."

Verstappen already spoke to Masi

Sebastian Vettel shouted over the board radio at the start of the final qualifying session that there should actually be a code red. That didn't happen and a few moments later Lando Norris crashed into the wall. Verstappen, like Vettel himself for that matter, has now had a brief chat with Masi.

"Maybe we should have stopped a few seconds earlier because it was already raining so hard. When I came back from the press conference I already had a talk with Masi because I passed his office. Seb had also been there. The situation with Lando didn't go well, but the other sessions all went well," said Verstappen.

Drivers help race committee

Communication between the FIA race director and the drivers will again be very important on Sunday. There are already plans in place to improve the contact. "We as drivers can then pass on what can and cannot be done. If it is possible, we drive on and if it is raining too hard, we get a red flag. We try to help Michael then as well," he reports. "He's inside and doesn't exactly get the conditions either."