Despite suffering significant floor damage to his RB20 after an off-track excursion in unexpectedly rainy conditions, Max Verstappen managed to secure a commendable fourth place during the British GP Qualifying.

Speaking to Sky Sports F1 following the Qualifying session, Verstappen commented:

“Just wrong place, wrong time. We went out a bit late but didn’t expect it to rain in Q1. 

“I came out of Turn Seven and it started to rain on my visor. Everyone had already cleared that little rain area because people behind me also had to slow down.”

Attempting to post a competitive lap time, knowing that rain could potentially eliminate him early, Verstappen faced a split-second decision.

“At Copse, I knew the people in front of me would do a lap time. You think the rain is maybe coming in, you have to put a lap in or you are out in Q1. So I tried to keep a bit of speed up. I did lift but it wasn’t enough because it was so slippery that I still had a moment.”

To avoid crashing, Verstappen drove through a wet, dirt-filled off-track area, unintentionally causing severe damage to his car’s floor.

“Then you don’t want to crash. So I had to go through the dirt and off line wet bit, skating through the gravel, trying to not hit the wall. But I destroyed the floor.

“From there onwards, it was trying to survive. The team did a great job to try and optimise the losses because you could see they were grinding and trying to optimise every bit because the floor was in a bad state.”

Despite these challenges, Verstappen’s efforts landed him in fourth place for the start of the race, trailing behind pole sitter George Russell, Lewis Hamilton, and Lando Norris. Expressing his satisfaction, Verstappen remarked:

“Initially, I was happy to get into Q3 because the car was a massive step down. To be P4, I’m quite happy with that.”