Max Verstappen explains risk of vital call in contrast to Lando Norris

Max Verstappen has conceded that the vital call that allowed him to
claim a crucial pole position for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix was not
without a high degree of risk. Verstappen secured the 46th pole
position of his F1 career after emerging unscathed from a chaotic
qualifying session in which there were a record six red flags
following crashes or incidents for Williams' Alex Albon, the Sauber
of Nico Hulkenberg, Alpine's Franco Colapinto, Haas driver Oliver
Bearman, Charles Leclerc in his Ferrari, and finally, McLaren's
Oscar Piastri. Piastri smashed into a wall, leaving less than four
minutes on the clock in Q3, and with only three drivers having set
a lap time – Carlos Sainz in his Williams, and Racing Bulls duo
Liam Lawson and Isack Hadjar. With very light rain falling, leaving
the surface greasy and unpredictable on either the soft or medium
tyres, Lando Norris headed out first in his McLaren, a decision
that, with hindsight post-event, he said was the incorrect call. In
contrast, Verstappen patiently bided his time before emerging from
the garage, albeit fully aware that in doing so, another crash
would leave him without a time to his name and starting in the
lower reaches of the top 10 on the grid. Asked if he made the right
call, Verstappen said: "Well, it wouldn’t really matter too much
because if anyone had crashed, then there would have been no laps
for the people that didn’t have a lap. "I just didn’t want to be
first because you lose a bit to the line. So that meant that we
were almost at the back, but that was okay. That was a call that we
made." Verstappen coy on race prospects Verstappen explained that
throughout qualifying, he was unable to get into a rhythm, given
all the interruptions before ultimately declaring himself naturally
"very happy" to be on pole. The conditions were made all the more
difficult by the strong wind, on average around 30kph, with gusts
of up to 60kph. Dissecting the unpredictability, he said: "This
track is already hard enough without anything. "With the strong
winds that we had, the car was moving around a lot – understeer,
oversteer in different places, even on the straight, going left to
right. "To basically nail everything, but then also the big
interruptions that we had, it was just very tricky. Luckily, we did
quite well." Despite starting from pole, and with Norris and
Piastri seventh and ninth, Verstappen refused to offer a decisive
view on how he feels his race will unfold. "Difficult to say at the
moment," he said. "Of course, it’s a good starting position. "We
just have to try and do our own race, to be honest. Hopefully the
car is kind on its tyres, that we can look after them, and just go
from there."