Pierre Gasly says an “unpredictable” Red Bull RB14 is hampering his prospects after he suffered another early exit during Formula 1 qualifying.
Gasly was hurt by a communication blunder in Australia that left him out in Q1 but has struggled for pace throughout the weekend in Bahrain, and dropped out in Q2.
As a consequence he will start the race from a low-key 13th on the grid.
“I would say last year I really felt like I could do what I wanted with the car in Bahrain, and at the moment it just feels like I can't really drive how I want,” he said.
“It's quite unpredictable. Sometimes I turn, nothing happens, next corner I will turn, I will lose the rear. It's just really unpredictable at the moment.
“We tried something in qualifying which didn't really improve it, and yeah, we probably need a bit more time and look at bit more with the engineers, what we can do to make it a bit more consistent to drive.
“At the moment it's more this unpredictability which makes it a bit difficult for me.
“Going on power it's just really snappy and really nervous on the rear so it makes the rear tyres overheat as well through the lap.
“It’s a bit of a snowball effect, the more you slide, the less grip you have. Doesn't really help and it's quite unpredictable as well.
“I just feel at the moment I cannot really do what I want inside the cockpit.”
Gasly was downbeat over the chances of his Red Bull feeling better during race trim.
“My main struggle is the traction, so I will have to be careful with the [wheel] spin and then trying to keep the rear axle under control and the temperature,” he said.
“It's a track where you can try a lot of things in terms of overtaking – I think in terms of racing it's a lot more intense than in Melbourne, so for sure we'll go for the points, and try to score as much as we can.
“But for sure the issue I have at the moment will not help for the long run.”
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