‘Honda Makes Good Lawn Mowers’ – Verstappen Upbeat Despite Costing Red Bull F1 Pole

Red Bull had quite a fruitful qualifying session on Saturday. Although neither of their cars took pole position, they still find themselves having the upper hand with two cars in the top three grid spots. However, what was surprising was that the RB16B in P2 wasn’t that of Max Verstappen; it was Sergio Perez who managed to one-up his teammate in Q3 after Max put in a poor last lap. Nevertheless, the Dutchman didn’t appear too peeved about the result and instead saw the funnier side of it.

Speaking at the post-qualifying press conference, Verstappen joked about his off-track excursions on his final flying lap, making an intriguing comparison between the RB16B and a lawnmower.

He said, “I just didn’t have a good lap, I went off in Turn 3 with two wheels. I mean, I know Honda makes good lawn mowers, but I don’t think this one is suited for that. At least I tried. But it was just a scrappy lap.”

Max Verstappen sees the positives from a good qualifying session for Red Bull

Although being the perfectionist he is, Max didn’t let his P3 result get to him. Instead, he was able to see the silver lining that could help Red Bull triumph over Mercedes in the race at Imola.

He said, “I think we were very close (to Mercedes). So that’s a positive. And like Checo said, we have two cars close to Lewis on different tires, so hopefully that will give some excitement tomorrow.”

In theory, Red Bull could pull off exactly what Mercedes did to them in Bahrain. With two cars in the mix, the Austrian team could force Mercedes and Hamilton into making some uncomfortable strategy calls.

However, Hamilton is excited to take on this new challenge. So, expect him to go full throttle in the race right from when the lights go out.

Meanwhile, Verstappen would want to end his Italian struggles and score his first podium in the country. But he could make that result all the more sweeter if he can come out on top and take Red Bull to victory at Imola.

Can Red Bull trap Hamilton and Mercedes? We shall soon find out.

Also Read: Emilia Romagna GP: Max Verstappen Calls for Another DRS Zone at Imola