Verstappen drops blunt take after Barcelona qualifying twist
Max Verstappen has admitted his surprise after qualifying for the Barcelona GP.
Max Verstappen has delivered a blunt assessment of his qualifying performance and a bleak prediction for Sunday’s Barcelona GP.
The Red Bull driver struggled to match the pace of the front runners throughout practice before delivering a time just three-tenths shy of pole sitter George Russell in what was a surprise performance from the Dutchman.
Max Verstappen surprised by Barcelona qualifying turnaround amid tyre concerns
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Throughout practice, Verstappen complained about the handling of his RB22 over the team radio.
Heading into qualifying, expectations were therefore kept in check, with the result exceeding them.
“We just struggled a lot with the car, and in qualifying it was a little bit better, but still a little bit surprised with then the gap shrinking,” Verstappen told PlanetF1.com and other accredited media.
“Our car is just a little bit sensitive, but I think overall we can be quite happy with this pace.
“The whole weekend, I think we’re lacking six-, seven-tenths, and now it’s within three-tenths.”
Verstappen’s best, a 1:14.998, proved 0.319s slower than Russell’s pole time, though the Dutchman suggests he left time on the table that could have seen that far closer.
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“My last lap, for whatever reason, in the final sector, I just started to slide a little bit too much to get more lap time out of it,” he reasoned.
“I lost quite a bit of time in [Turns] 10 and 12, and then from there onwards probably took it a bit easier in the final corners because the feeling was gone.
“Otherwise, maybe P3 would have been on the cards, but at the end of the day, I also don’t think it’s going to make a massive change to your result tomorrow, because it’s going to be all about tyre deg and pit stops and strategies.”
High ambient temperatures saw track temps soar towards 50 degrees on Saturday, compounding the trouble teams and drivers had getting their tyres into a working window.
That’s led many to predict a three-stop race; or a two-stop affair with pace management to preserve the tyres.
Verstappen heads into the race without a set of new hard compound tyres available, having used his allocation during practice.
“All the tyres are bad,” he argued.
“I guess I’ll really struggle. Just depends who will struggle the most.”
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