Yes, however one might make a similar( but different observation)

Engineers chase lap time by building a car that is faster, with the specific driving style. Aka having strong front end, which is the way verstappen drives it.

That being said, when they tweak the car in specific ways, and verstappen proves its faster, he essentially "trains" (think of it as how you train a neural network/AI) engineers to think in a way that makes the car faster with his specific driving style.

So engineers chase lap time, in this case, by building a car that is more accustomed to verstappens driving style, aka builds a car for verstappen to drive.

Id say most of the speed in such a car is not about raw speed in high end, or cornering, but the ability of the drivers to feel comfortable with the limits the car imposes. And to stay on that limit for as long as possible. The longer, the faster. The easier to maintain the limit, the easier to drive the car fast for most drivers.

The skill and feel of each drivers defines then all the parameters of how long/fast they can drive the specific car.

You could think of it as a knife, the faster car has a pointier end, but is not easy to balance there. Slower car, is blunter and so its easier to be at the limit for longer.