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Max after six podiums in a row: 'Hopefully we can keep this streak going'

Published on 03 September 2020 by Niels Hendrix

This weekend the Italian Grand Prix will be hosted at Monza. Looking forward, Max Verstappen tells how he sees his chances: “It is difficult to say at the moment as it isn’t normally our best track with all the long straights but last year in practice we were quite competitive in practice before taking a penalty so let’s hope that it is going to be the same again this year. Spa was my sixth podium in a row so hopefully we can keep this streak going and soon fight for first instead of second and third but that might not be the case here. Of course we keep pushing and we don’t give up but we have to be realistic that Mercedes are still the favourites.”

This weekend the ban on qualifying modes comes into effect. How much impact will that have? Max: “I don’t want to talk too much about the engine qualifying modes as we really don’t know how it will affect us and other teams. I hope it will bring everyone a little closer together but there is no point in guessing.”

Renault were fast in Spa. Do you think they’ll be a threat here? Max: “I think where there are a lot of long straights Renault seem to have quite a good balance on the car and a good trade-off between top speed and cornering but we will see. Overall I don’t think they are a massive threat, maybe at Monza they will be close again but we will see when we are out on track.”

What do you think about the ‘Temple of Speed’? Max: “Monza is super fast which makes it great fun to drive but it can also be a challenge for us. High-speed corners are always exciting and especially the last corner, Parabolica, which is really nice. Monza is such a historic track which I always look forward to going to and unfortunately there are of course no fans this year but we’ll still try and make it an exciting race!”

Italian GP contest: win the grey Max Verstappen cap!