Verstappen on qualifying problems: "Extremely frustrating".

F1 News

30 July 2022 at 16:33
  • GPblog.com

Max Verstappen seemed very strong in the first sessions of qualifying, but had to give up in Q3. The Dutchman had a braking error in his first run and in his second run his engine failed. P10 is the most that could be achieved.

The most painful thing for the driver was that he was well in contention with Ferrari in the first sessions of qualifying. Ferrari was the favourite on Friday, but there was the Red Bull driver all of a sudden. That there were problems with his engine is therefore even more frustrating. Verstappen does not yet know what happened, but he did speak to the press.

Verstappen frustrated after missing pole position

To Viaplay the Dutchman said: "There was just no power when I drove out of the pits. I haven't been to the team yet to see what it was. It's extremely frustrating because it looked like there was something to gain." When asked, Verstappen thinks pole position would have been possible without the problems: "I think so. Especially after Q2 when it looked like the speed was good; then it's possible."

With his rivals from Ferrari on P2 and P3, tomorrow's race will be exciting for Verstappen. The Dutchman needs to minimise the damage against Charles Leclerc who starts from P3: "I hope we don't lose too much time at the start compared to the guys we are fighting with." Possibly Red Bull will benefit from the fact that Sergio Perez will start behind them. With teamwork, perhaps the team can try to get to the front of the grid a little faster.