Why Red Bull have sacrificed Max Verstappen’s top-speed advantage

Red Bull have revealed they have sacrificed Max Verstappen’s top-speed advantage for increased downforce ahead of an anticipated wet Belgian Grand Prix.

Verstappen capitalised on a low-downforce set-up to blast past McLaren’s Oscar Piastri on his way to winning the sprint race at Spa-Francorchamps in dry conditions on Saturday, boasting a superior straight-line speed advantage over his rivals.

But heading into qualifying, Red Bull opted to run the four-time world champion’s car with more downforce to boost Verstappen’s chances if the forecast rain does impact Sunday’s grand prix.

Spa has already been hit by heavy rain early on Sunday morning, with conditions expected to remain similar throughout the day.

The poor conditions have already resulted in the supporting Formula 3 race to be twice red-flagged.

"Tomorrow, obviously, everything is a big reset and we'll see what the weather is like," new Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies told F1TV.

"I don't think we are begging for [rain], but we've made quite a few choices on the car thinking that tomorrow we'll get a bit less grip compared to now. Obviously, we have increased our downforce significantly.

"In that context, I think the rain is probably the best chance we have to reduce further the gap to McLaren. But, if it's dry, we will take that as well, it will still be a big tyre management game, even in the dry.”

Red Bull not worried about Verstappen’s starting spot

A mistake-ridden final lap in Q3 left Verstappen fourth on the grid after he was pipped to third by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc by just 0.003s.

"The Q3 laps certainly felt a little bit more difficult to extract everything from the car, the balance a bit less together,” Mekies added.

"There were some serious improvements corner to corner, but I think the gap to McLaren is probably fair.

"Obviously, a bit frustrating to be beaten by Charles for a few thousands, but it's part of the game.

"Overall, the gap is what it is; two to three tenths to McLaren. I think it's reflecting the reality and we'll fight from there tomorrow.”

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko also did not appear overly concerned about Verstappen’s lower starting spot compared to the sprint race.

"Max didn’t have grip in either of his runs; maybe the tyre pressure wasn’t quite right - he had a real slide in Turn 1, and again in Turn 5, so we could’ve been closer," Marko told ORF.

"But we’re expecting rain tomorrow, so it’s not a disappointment. We’re focused on the race and there we’re optimistic. I don’t see a big issue [with being beaten by Leclerc]."