Max Verstappen expects it will be “tough” for him to fight the McLaren drivers in Qatar Grand Prix despite the improvements Red Bull have made to their car’s balance.
He will start today’s race third behind his championship rivals Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris. Verstappen took fourth in yesterday’s sprint race after complaining about excessive bouncing in his car.
He said his RB21 felt “better” after the set-up changes Red Bull made before qualifying. “We’re just trying to cancel out a bit the issues that we had yesterday, which felt a little bit nicer, but [were] still there,” he explained.
“Plus, I’m just not really having enough front grip still, which is then limiting you a bit around the lap here, especially with all these long medium-speed corners. That basically doesn’t allow you to push harder.
“That is what happened also in qualifying. We tried to make the best out of it in terms of prep, making sure that we’re on top of everything with what we can change. It was alright, the final lap was good but I was just limited with the issues that I’m experiencing at the moment.”
Verstappen said there are “unfortunately still some limitations” in the car which he has dealt with all season. “They stay in there, but they’ve been in the car for a while now. It’s not like it suddenly just arrived here and we don’t know how to solve it or whatever. It’s been a weakness for us this season, especially in these long, medium-speed corners.”
He started the sprint race strongly, pressuring Lando Norris for third place, but had to settle for fourth as his tyres began to fade. Verstappen said the McLaren has a clear pace advantage towards the end of stints when their tyres are worn.
“It will be tough,” he said. “In the sprint [race] I tried but then we fell into that window where we just struggle a lot on the tyres and we don’t seem to really be able to keep up.
“The final laps of Oscar in the sprint, I need to cut a corner to do that. So, it will be maybe a little bit better, but yeah, it will be tough, I think.”
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2025 Qatar Grand Prix
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