‘We just fell into the same problems’ – Max Verstappen rues car issue in tricky Qatar Sprint
Max Verstappen found himself driving a lonely Sprint after an eye-catching opening lap, as the issues he faced in Friday’s running in Qatar reappeared and hindered his performance.
The Dutchman, who has claimed a record 10 pole positions in Sprints, missed out on the top spot due to his Red Bull bouncing, making it uncomfortable and far more challenging to drive in Sprint Qualifying.
He ultimately settled for sixth place on the grid but was able to improve to fourth in a matter of corners. After displacing the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso, who was passed by both Red Bull cars, Yuki Tsunoda let his team mate through to chase down the top three.
Despite his best efforts, Verstappen was unable to keep up with his rivals ahead as he reported that the car was jumping up and down, forcing him to manage the issue and prevent it getting worse before the all-important Qualifying hour at 1800 local time.
“The start was good,” he said after the Sprint. “I think the first two corners worked out well, and then we just fell into the same problems as yesterday. Of course we know that you can’t change the car, but at least it’s good to know in the sense that in Qualifying and race pace you’re facing the same problems.
“We have a few things that we need to work on now to try and improve because you don’t want any kind of bouncing or jumping on a track like this. That’s what we’ll try to work on, plus trying to look after our front tyres a little bit better.”
Speaking to Sky Sports F1, he added: “It’s been difficult so far. I think the first three laps I just pushed a bit more compared to the guys ahead to try and have an opportunity, knowing that passing was tough. After that, you just get into the same trouble.
“Of course, the more the tyres wear, the more you feel those kinds of issues. That basically then prevented us from following them. I was basically just doing my own race out there. We need to work on that and try to get rid of the bouncing, jumping, understeer in general in the long corners – that’s still a big problem.”
Tsunoda quickly dropped back from his team mate after allowing him to pass, with his biggest challenge of the Sprint proving to be staying within track limits as he was hit with a five-second time penalty.
That initially demoted him to P6 behind Kimi Antonelli, but the Mercedes driver committed the same offence and was handed the same punishment once the Sprint was over, lifting Tsunoda back to P5.
“Fortunately, the driver I was fighting with also got track limits,” Tsunoda said after scoring his first points since the United States Grand Prix. “To be honest, I had track limits four times. Maybe two times, I can understand it, but the extra two I have to review why. At least now I’m aware going into Qualifying so I can make sure I’m careful at those corners.
“It’s been a good race weekend so far, it’s been smooth. I knew it was a matter of putting it all together for the weekend. The important things are coming up but I’ll just do the same and put it all together more.”
