Max Verstappen says Red Bull are up against it at the Losail International Circuit after missing pole position by over four-tenths of a second.
The Red Bull driver split the two Mercedes but fell well short of beating Lewis Hamilton to pole position in Qatar.“We’re just lacking a bit of pace,” said Verstappen. “It’s been just a bit more tricky for us again in qualifying.”
Verstappen was the only one of the two Red Bull drivers to reach Q3 at Losail. Team mate Sergio Perez missed the cut for Q2 by a tenth of a second. “You could see that Checo is not even in Q3, so it just shows that we are definitely struggling a bit more than the normal.
“Nevertheless, it’s still second, so it’s all to play for. But of course I wish we could have fought for more.”
Formula 1 is racing at the track for the first time. Overtaking is expected to be difficult, and Verstappen said his best opportunity to make progress will come at the start.
“It’s always difficult to [predict] because we have never done a race here, so there’s still a lot of unknowns,” he said. “I don’t really think about these things too much. We just need to work on our start and then we’ll see where we end up.”
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rodewulf (@rodewulf)
20th November 2021, 16:08
If it was Lewis in place of Max he would be soaking in tears right now. So, do your best, Mad Max, and keep it on your stoic approach you had been showing lately. They accuse you of what they do (actually they do a lot worse), and they wished they had done what you have been doing this entire season, instead of wasting a lot of opportunities.
Joaqo (@joaqo)
20th November 2021, 20:23
Damn it’s so weird reading your post. It should be a case study for how fanaticism drives a willingness to see alternative realities.
EffWunFan (@cairnsfella)
21st November 2021, 1:00
It’s just weird isn’t it. I mean there are a decent number of constructive commenters here (and I don’t even mind a little bias here and there) but posts such as these where individuals just state sensationalist speculation as though fact really detracts from the experience.
I almost wish they had a VIP or invite only section for more objective debate. And normally I would frown upon anything so elitist (nor am I suggesting I would actually qualify, but even if I could read it and not comment I would much prefer it)
Davethechicken
20th November 2021, 16:45
Reflects poorly on Perez when both AT’s made Q3.
Learon
20th November 2021, 17:16
Struggling with their conscience?
erikje
20th November 2021, 17:19
Why would that be?
It was Mercedes caught with their hands in the cookie jar.
DaveW (@dmw)
20th November 2021, 17:25
Which cookie jar? I note RBR went back to an old spec wing when the fia brought new wing tests today. Probably a coincidence, right? I mean let’s treat all weird conspiracy theories equally, OK.
DaveW (@dmw)
20th November 2021, 17:23
Perez, man. It’s only a few tenths but he even went to the softs and still didn’t make it. Very poor.
Learon
20th November 2021, 17:26
Struggling with not having one?
Esteban
20th November 2021, 21:28
He’s just not as blessed as Hamilton.