Max Verstappen joked that coming from the Netherlands meant that he felt at home in cold, wet conditions such as those faced by the drivers in today's qualifying session for the Canadian Grand prix.
After a subdued time in Friday's disrupted practice sessions, the Red Bull driver was firmly in control of proceedings on a rain-hit Saturday, topping FP3 and two of the three rounds of qualifying.
"Friday wasn't fantastic so we made a few changes to the car, and of course today was completely wet so it was a little bit different, but the car was improved in general."
"We were just fine tuning, the downshifts are not really a problem, but you always want to improve little areas."
He ended up taking pole with a final lap of 1:25.858s before the rain picked up following a red flag meaning that no one could improve their times before the chequered flag.
"I like driving in the wet," he told Danica Patrick in the post-session media interview in parc ferme. "I mean, I come from Holland, so I am used to driving in the wet!
"In the wet you just have to stay on top of all conditions, and it was super slippery out there in some places.
“In general it helps if you are confident in the wet,” he continued. "It’s a lot of feeling as well. Knowing how to drive it, what lines to take. It’s difficult to fully explain why that happens."
Verstappen said it was something that he had been learning as a kid, thanks to lessons from his father Jos who was also a Formula 1 driver in the 1990s.
"I remember back in the go-karting days, my dad was the guy standing on the track telling me where to drive in the wet, because I think back in the day he was also quite decent in the wet.
"Just learning, and then at one point understanding yourself what is going on and what you have to do and how to drive fast in the wet.”
Verstappen and his team had to adapt quickly to the fluctuating conditions, with every stage of qualifying presenting a different challenge. The first round was on a damp but drying track and proved relatively straightforward on intermediates, as a dry line started to evolve.
“The track was quite dry in some places, so there were not many things that could catch you out because the tyres were getting up to temperature quite quickly, so that was good.”
By the time it got to the second round, the question was whether it was dry enough for slicks. Alex Albon jumped first and reaped the rewards, topping Q2 by 0.367s from Verstappen.
“You had to make the call in Q2 with when to switch to the slick tyres,” Verstappen explained. “I opted to initially go out on the inters just to get a lap in because they work better than slick tyres on a 'bit of a damp' track.
“But then it was quite clear that I needed to go to the slicks so we did a pit stop," he continued. "Those slick tyres, the first laps - it’s quite tricky knowing the grip levels and how hard to push, so you’re a little bit under it."
Almost immediately the rain picked up again. "At one point it was not possible any more to try for the slicks," he said. “Luckily then we got a decent lap in at the end, which was enough to go to Q3.
"Overall I think we just had good communication with the team throughout Q1, Q2, which I think is the most important, and we were clear with what we wanted to do.
“In Q3 it kept on raining," he noted. “From our radar it said that it was continuing to rain throughout Q3, so we just really wanted to be up front and just wait.
"So it was very important to be out there quickly and get the laps in,” he added. "I had to wait a long time at the end of the pit lane so the tyres were cold, but it did give me clean air and good vision."
Verstappen will start tomorrow's race with Nico Hulkenberg alongside him on the front row after the Haas was fortunate with the timing of the red flag.
Unfortunately Verstappen's team mate Sergio Perez won't be on hand to help him, as the Mexican missed the cut at the end of Q2, leaving him P12 on the grid.
“Once we went on to the slick tyre, track position wasn’t great," he told reporters in the paddock. "We were probably half a lap late, and once the temperature was on the tyre then we just couldn’t get it through."
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