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Max and Isack debrief us on what was an eventful Qualifying session
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Max and Isack debrief us on what was an eventful Qualifying session
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Rows three and four for Max and Isack ahead of Sunday’s race
Several upgrades had both Bulls fighting for position in a tightly packed Q3 session
The push towards a potential pole position for Max ended at the second-to-last corner when the four-time World Champion crashed out of his final flying lap. He’ll start the Team’s home race from fifth place on the grid thanks to his first run, while Isack will line up in P8 on the grid.
Making the most of upgrades to both RB22s and overnight improvements to set-up, Max roared into contention for a sixth career Red Bull Ring Pole thanks to a Q3 opener of 1:06.475 that left him just six hundredths of a second off provisional pole sitter Kimi Antonelli.
The tiny deficit lay deep in the final sector, and it was there that Max pushed over the edge. Fighting to find those extra tenths of a second and to claim a front-row start that looked set to be hard-earned, the Dutchman tried to carry a fraction more speed through the high-speed Turn 9 right-hander, before losing the rear, leaving him to slide off through the gravel trap, broadsiding the barriers.
Double yellows were swiftly shown, but Mercedes’ George Russell sneaked through with a timely lift under single flags to claim Pole ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton and the other Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli.
A hard-fought Q3 for Isack, finishing just a tenth and a half behind Max, but with the field so tightly bunched, it’s the difference between P5 and P8 on the starting grid. With some work to be done on Max’s car tonight, both Bulls are eager to come out fighting tomorrow in front of a home crowd for Red Bull.
In FP2, I didn’t feel happy with the set-up of the car but in FP3, I was quite happy from the first lap - so knew it would be a better day straight away. Halfway through qualifying I was doing a bit of a plateau performance wise, which we corrected for that final lap, which I’m pleased with, so we did a good job there. The guys did a good job progressing and bringing upgrades this weekend and I extracted all I could from the car, but we had a few deployment issues when it mattered, which doesn’t show its full potential. I think we should’ve been higher up the grid today but tomorrow should be interesting with strategy.
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A hot Styrian sun beats down as the Bulls bring upgrades
Max ended the day in P4 ahead of the Team’s home race in Austria, with Isack in P7, just 0.194s behind.
The Team arrived in Austria with a heavily revised RB22 featuring a new floor, revised sidepods, and a new engine cover, as well as updated rear suspension aero devices and a repositioned exhaust tailpipe, but in FP1 it was other issues that cut into both drivers’ track time.
It was a little bit tricky to find the right balance - we need to work on our front to rear grip and find the right compromise there.
Max was set back by issues on his car before eventually claiming P4 with a best time of 1:09.077, 0.281s off FP1’s fastest man, Kimi Antonelli. On the other side of the garage, the Team was forced into a PU change on Isack’s car ahead of the session, which meant he only managed 11 laps on his way to P12.
We will need to do a lot of digging and work on the set up for tomorrow, but the car usually comes alive in Qualifying so hopefully we can find some good pace.
Both drivers were more settled in the late afternoon session and, though both Max and Isack reported issues in Turn 3, with the Dutchman complaining about an RPM drop and his French teammate suffering a snap on his Quali sim, they made steady gains through the hour to eventually claim P4 and P7 at the flag.
There is plenty of homework to do overnight, but in the team’s backyard the Bulls are firmly in the mix ahead of final practice and Qualifying.