Raymond Vermeulen, manager of Max Verstappen, was highly pleased with the outcome of the Abu Dhabi GP qualification on Saturday evening, where Verstappen secured pole position. “This was truly a team effort,” Vermeulen commented in the paddock. However, he added, “we are missing the Mercedes.”
Verstappen clinched pole position on Saturday, outperforming his title rivals, namely World Championship leader Lando Norris and his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri. If Verstappen wins, Norris only needs a third-place finish to secure his first world title. He currently holds a twelve-point lead in the World Championship standings.
During the qualification, Vermeulen and his engineer Gianpiero Lambiase decided to save a new set of soft tires in Q2. At the start of Q3, Verstappen also received a useful slipstream from his teammate Yuki Tsunoda. “This was a team effort. A textbook qualification. But Max knows how to drive it all together very well at the crucial moment, and in the last round of Q3, he does it without a tow. It’s beautiful to see, Gianpiero and Max have been working together for ten years and they can read each other, it’s not normal,” said Vermeulen. Then, referring to the World Championship battle: “We just miss the Mercedes at the front.”
The presence of Russell and/or Antonelli on the first or second starting row would have been beneficial for Verstappen in this case. However, the Mercedes drivers had to settle for the fourth and fourteenth times, respectively. Vermeulen on the title chances and tomorrow’s race: “We can’t do more than we are doing now. But if this is the outcome, we won’t make it. However, it is true that Norris will be more cautious than Oscar and Max, who both have nothing to lose. And fox Alonso is also nearby on P6, so we’ll see.”
