Verstappen Shares His Thoughts After 'Spicy' Moment In Qualifying

Sunday, 08 December 2024 at 11:16

Red Bull Racing F1 driver Max Verstappen shared his immediate feelings after qualifying in P5 for the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Similar to the preceding race weekend in Qatar, Red Bull didn't look particularly strong in practice sessions but made a huge step forward going into the qualifying session on Saturday.

Max Verstappen looked like the fastest man on the track both in Q1 and Q2. In Q1, he was the only driver not to use two sets of fresh tires and in Q2, he even got out of his car already after the first run.

It looked like the four-time World Champion would be a serious contender for pole, but he made mistakes on both of his two final flying laps in Q3.

The first flying lap in the Q3 was Verstappen's best until the last corner, where he had a massive moment as he lost his rear on the curb.

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For a few tenths of a second, the Dutchman was facing the wall, but he saved it and still put in the quickest time. After the qualifying, the 27-year-old said:

"I thought at one point as I was facing the wall: This can be quite spicy, but it is not quick."

The Red Bull driver had a chance to improve on his second run, but he didn't manage to do it. Ultimately, his first flying lap was only good enough for P5. Verstappen added:

"But the whole weekend, we've never found the sweet spot, maybe we looked okay in Q1 and Q2, but for most of the time, people were aborting their laps, had new tires, and then every time at the beginning of a session, people behind me were on scrubbed tires when I put new ones on."

"Q3 was okay, but just not how I liked it. The car was just never planted, always difficult in some corners, and it made it very difficult to be consistent."

"I tried to adjust in some corners, but then something else happened in another corner that made it difficult."

"I should have been on the front-row, but it is still not bad as we know that if we fix our problems, we will pick up a lot of lap time, but it is about fixing those problems because our balance shift makes it difficult to find a good compromise with the tools we have in the car."

Nico Hulkenberg on Haas, who qualified in P4 ahead of the Dutchman, received a 3-place grid penalty after the race, which means Verstappen moved up one position to start from the second row.