Max Verstappen, Red Bull, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, 2019

Verstappen: Q2 elimination was “very unlucky”

2019 Canadian Grand Prix

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Max Verstappen says he was unfortunate to drop out of qualifying in the second round after Kevin Magnussen’s crash.

The Red Bull driver was on course to set a time which would have put him in the top 10 in Q2 when the Haas driver hit the barrier at the final corner, bringing the session to an early end. He had switched from medium to soft compound tyres for his final run, having been unable to set a quick enough time on the harder compound with his first effort.

“We tried on the mediums but then we had a bit of traffic as well, so that’s not ideal,” said Verstappen. “So then we went on the soft and it was all looking good, but we had the red flag.”

Having qualified 11th, Verstappen will have the benefit of being able to start the race on new tyres. However he said he would have been better off starting higher up the grid on fresher rubber.

“It’s always better to start P5 or P6 on whatever tyre but it’s how it goes,” he said. “It’s very unlucky. It just means I have a bit more work to do tomorrow.”

Verstappen asked his team “I guess that’s it?” on the radio after being told to pit for the red flag. “Yes, you guessed right,” he was told.

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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15 comments on “Verstappen: Q2 elimination was “very unlucky””

  1. He wasn’t even mad. Not sure if this is a good thing

    1. @anunaki It’s good.

    2. He is extremely balanced and fast. So tomorrow only the start is tricky, but then he can shine.
      Probably starting on the hardest tires.

    3. He had no one to be mad at, it was RBs and his mistake for not pushing.

      1. still can’t understand why they didn’t send him sooner. He was in the garage with 5 min to go, why leave it so late? Just put new tires on and get out before anyone else. Track improvement was not so important given the risk.

        1. Doing two runs on a tyres which would already be quite a disadvantage…? In F1 you have to go for maximum result, not for being on the safe side all the time. It was a pity to see him caught out, but the risk of the game

  2. I have said for years that Max needs to calm down and drive it cool ….
    Tomorrow I want the old Max back please :)

    1. I think new Max is faster and more consistent – very curious if & how he succeeds to fight to the front. Exciting race, I hope!

      1. @clearbrooke @nullapax
        although it would be interesting to see Max finish in the podium from 10th, i don’t think we should disregard to improvements the 4 Renault engine cars have had. they have looked on par with the Honda atleast in some sections of the track. Overtaking is relatively easy on this track and RBH’s aero is far superior. As to how much it is going to help Max remains to be seen. For a change, i would like to see a non RBH driver in the top 5 with RBH finishing behind.

  3. Will he overtake Gasly tomorrow, i say he will

  4. Elimination in Q2 wasn’t “unlucky” it was stupid. They knew he had to go out again on the soft tyres and they knew he easily had the pace to do it at any point during Q2. Waiting until the end of Q2 and risking a yellow/red flag on such an important lap was totally incompetent. Fortunately for Red Bull, Ferrari are still way in front for the title of F1 ‘19 most incompetent moment.

    1. Have to agree that Red Bull dropper the ball here @sammyh. There were 6 minutes of the session to go when he came into the pits. With the pace advantage that they had on the softs, they didn’t have to wait til the end of the session, they could quite easily have sent him out earlier when the track was clear

    2. Absolute true. Was shouting to the tv, 5 minutes before the end of Q2: go now and set a time, you will see somebody crash at the end and you’re out. But my tv has only a one way sound channel so they didn’t listen. They even didn’t react when I said: I told you so, you stupid!
      Seeing the face of Christian Horner at the end of Q3 he was thinking the same words. Not a driver fault but a strategy failure.

  5. Verstappen was not happy about the number of cars on the track he said it several times. But he was in the same situation as everyone else and he was not held up by anyone. I think RB and he made a mistake, hopefully that’ll make for a more exiting race.

  6. He could have made it on the mediums. Slightly held up on his first lap on them, not good enough on his second lap. That’s that. His own inability, so his own fault. And RB should have sent him out later, but red flags are rare. Mistake, but it happens.
    Shame too because on pace he would have beaten Leclerc to third on the grid.

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