Max Verstappen admitted his lackluster sixth-place qualification in Baku is all the way down to ill-advised setup modifications made earlier than qualifying.
Sixth is Verstappen’s second-worst qualifying results of the season, equaling the identical lead to Monaco and higher than solely his seventh in Italy two weeks in the past. It’s additionally the primary grand prix since Miami final yr that Verstappen has been outqualified by teammate Sergio Perez.
A optimistic apply marketing campaign had many anticipating Crimson Bull Racing to be a protagonist within the battle for pole, however the RB20’s forecast velocity by no means materialized, leaving Verstappen 0.658s off the tempo, albeit with Perez 0.21s additional up the street. The defending champion stated some setup tweaks made for qualifying have been guilty for the turnaround, having rendered the automobile nearly undrivable.
“As quickly as I went out in Q1, the primary lap, I simply felt the automobile took a step again,” he stated. “I used to be not proud of the automobile already from lap 1, Q1, so it was going to be a troublesome qualifying regardless.
“We made some modifications. The automobile turned extremely unpredictable, tough, simply due to the modifications that we made. We modified some issues round and the automobile began leaping round quite a bit and also you lose the contact patch with the tarmac.”
Verstappen stated he by no means felt assured sufficient within the automobile to chase a extra aggressive lap time.
“My first run in Q3, I misplaced it into the final nook; in any other case you’re combating for P2, P3,” he stated. “You continue to have a run, you possibly can nonetheless enhance the lap time. I simply didn’t have the sensation within the automobile. I by no means felt snug, because the automobile was tough. Whenever you’re not snug, you possibly can’t assault corners.”
Regardless of the poorly judged modifications and the underwhelming end result, the Dutchman was buoyed by the actual fact the staff at the very least had made progress with its automobile since its season-worst efficiency in Italy.
“We did enhance the automobile,” he stated. “I feel the stability disconnect [improved]. Naturally, it’s to do with the monitor in fact. We’re nonetheless engaged on fine-tuning that any further, making an attempt to get the stability disconnect extra collectively.
“However now with the setup, we tried to good it, make a number of issues higher, however sadly it went the opposite manner. I’m a bit disillusioned with that, as you at all times attempt to optimize issues and make it higher. Sadly I feel we simply tipped it over the sting. A disgrace that occurred into qualifying.”
If there’s a silver lining for the title chief, it’s that championship rival Lando Norris certified a disastrous seventeenth. The McLaren driver must outscore Verstappen by slightly below eight factors per spherical to pinch the championship within the season-closing Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Persevering with that pattern with Verstappen ending the place he begins in sixth would require Norris to get better 15 locations to second.
The circumstances due to this fact enable Verstappen to deal Norris’s fledgling title ambitions a significant blow while not having a headline end result for himself, though the Dutchman insisted he remained centered on getting essentially the most out of himself quite than on a possible title problem.
“I nonetheless need to do effectively myself, and immediately was a nasty day,” he stated.
