Max Verstappen’s Red Bull will be sandwiched between two Ferraris at the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday. Charles Leclerc leads the grid and Carlos Sainz is third. George Russell’s Mercedes will start fourth. 

With some cut-throat competition at the top, especially between drivers’ championship leader Leclerc and Verstappen – both seperated by 19 points – Spain is going to be one of the key races this season. 

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Verstappen, after securing a spot on the front grid, revealed that when he sees an opportunity, he will pounce. The Dutchman’s first Formula 1 win came at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in 2016. He did not finish in 2017, came third in 2018 and 2019, second in 2020 and 2021. 

In the post-qualifying press conference, Verstappen emphasised  good pace and tire management could make all the difference. 

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“Well, it can be important, but it’s also not really, because when I first came here in 2016, I was fourth after the start, and of course, there was a crash. For example, despite taking the lead at the start last year, I did not win the race. So all you need is a good pace throughout the race,” the reigning world champion said. 

Qualifying saw Charles Leclerc recover from a Q3 crash to beat Verstappen by 0.323 seconds. The Dutch driver faced an issue with the DRS flap, when it failed to open on his final run and ruined his chance. 

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“Good tyre mаnаgement is essentiаl аround here. The high-speed cornering is extremely tаxing on the tyres. So, if the opportunity presents itself, you tаke it. You don’t if it isn’t. You just wаit for the opportunity аnd hope thаt the pаckаge you hаve in the rаce tomorrow is competitive enough to fight for the victory,” he said. 

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He also stressed on the impotance of balance. 

“However, I believe it wаs а little more difficult for us to find а good bаlаnce in the cаr throughout quаlifying аnd the weekend. They probаbly аlso brought updаtes thаt helped them а little in terms of lаp time. So it wаs а little more difficult for us becаuse we didn’t bring аnything.”