Max Verstappen admitted that he had struggled with an “inconsistent” Red Bull during Qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix, the Dutchman having ended the session in P7 following a “tough” weekend so far.
While McLaren looked in dominant form throughout Friday and Saturday’s sessions, Verstappen found himself some way back from the reigning Teams’ Champions on the timesheets – and this again proved to be the case in Qualifying, with the World Champion reporting problems with his brakes en route to seventh place in Q3.
READ MORE: Piastri beats Russell and Leclerc to pole position during Bahrain Grand Prix Qualifying
When quizzed on how tough it had been to get pace out of the RB21 during the session, Verstappen responded: “Yeah, it was tough – tough all weekend, I think.
“For whatever reason I’ve been struggling with the brakes, the feeling also, feeling retardation, so it’s something that we need to investigate. And then general grip, I guess, throughout the lap, [it was] quite inconsistent, and then of course that makes it very hard to understand what you actually need from the car when, for whatever reason, we can’t seem to make the tyres work.
Verstappen reveals struggles with ‘inconsistent’ Red Bull in qualifying
“So we have tried a lot, honestly, with the set-up – left, right, up and down! But unfortunately nothing really gave us a clear answer, so that is of course a bit of a shame.”
Looking ahead to Sunday’s race – in which he will line up behind Lando Norris, who was unable to match pole-setting team mate Oscar Piastri in the final runs of Q3 – Verstappen conceded that he is uncertain about his expectations for the event.
HIGHLIGHTS: Piastri claims brilliant Bahrain pole as Norris finishes down in sixth
“[I’m] not sure what to expect, to be honest,” the 27-year-old explained. “In the past, high-deg tracks have been good to us, but with the balance that we had today I think it will be very difficult.
“But of course I’m only looking forward – I’m trying to at least better some cars ahead. Normally the McLarens I think will be too quick, but maybe the other ones we can follow.”
On the other side of the Red Bull garage, Yuki Tsunoda progressed to Q3 for the first time since his promotion to the team, leaving the Japanese driver content to start from P10 despite hoping for better.
“[My] final lap was a big mystery, to be honest,” Tsunoda reflected after the session. “I just didn’t feel much grip. I mean, I had a quite big mistake in Turn 10, but I think I’ll still take it overall with going through Q3.
Tsunoda reflects on ‘massive roller coaster’ of a weekend after making Q3 in Bahrain
“I think considering our performance today, it wasn’t the easiest car probably, if you see Max – [he] qualified P7 which is a bit unusual. I might take it and be in Q3, but obviously as a driver you always want more.”
Having faced a challenging weekend so far in Sakhir, Tsunoda admitted that he had experienced a lot of highs and lows in the build-up to Qualifying as he continues to adjust to his new car.
AS IT HAPPENED: Follow the action from Qualifying for the Bahrain GP as Piastri takes pole
“[It has been] a very massive rollercoaster throughout the week – so much up and down,” the 24-year-old said. “If you just see results in free practice, I was nowhere, and I think considering that [it] was good recovery.
“I’m still just trying to find the performance to be in the consistent window, to be in the window that this car operates which is quite narrow, and I’m struggling to consistently be on that.
“But I’m not rushing, to be honest, it’s just the second race. This is still my sixth session probably, so I think it was good progress so far. I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing.”
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