Max Verstappen has contended that Interlagos has become “worse to drive” despite the track having been resurfaced prior to Formula 1’s 2024 Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The world-famous circuit had been repaved ahead of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, but the job done has introduced bumps to the surface.
Sprint polesitter Oscar Piastri exclaimed it was “hard enough to see where you’re going, let alone trying to do a fast lap,” highlighting the severity of the issue.
Verstappen, who qualified fourth in Friday’s session, knew from the moment he exited the Red Bull garage that pole wasn’t on the cards and the track surface only made matters worse.
“Yeah, as soon as we went into qualifying it looked like we were definitely off,” the Dutchman said.
“So, yeah, a bit difficult on the bumps. I mean, they did the resurfacing, but I think they actually made it worse to drive.
“It’s extremely bumpy everywhere; that’s not good for our car. All the bumpy areas, the car is jumping around a lot and it’s costing me quite a bit of lap time, unfortunately.”
Red Bull’s race pace has been an issue of late and qualifying fourth doesn’t help Verstappen’s cause in the Drivers’ Championship.
Verstappen leads McLaren’s Lando Norris by 47 points in the standings, but Friday’s Sprint Qualifying session showed Red Bull is off the pace of its Woking-based rival.
The Dutchman was nearly three-tenths slower than Norris, who will join Piastri on the front row for Saturday’s Sprint.
Verstappen’s troubles don’t end with a less-than-ideal Sprint Qualifying however, as he will face a five-place grid penalty in Sunday’s GP.
“Normally, when you’re already quite a bit off for one lap, I don’t think we are particularly the strongest in the race,” Verstappen rued.
“So, we’ll have to see how that goes tomorrow in the Sprint. Of course, I also know there is maybe some weather around that can come, but maybe not for the Sprint.
“And then, yeah, for the penalty, yeah, I have a bit more work to do.”
More Red Bull misery for Sergio Perez in Brazil
On Sergio Perez’s side of the Red Bull garage, things, as ever, went far worse than they did for Verstappen.
Facing a SQ2 exit, Perez and his team left it too late to start a final run in the second phase of Friday’s Sprint Qualifying session.
That’s put the Mexican on the backfoot, and he is due to start the Sprint from 13th on the gird.
A perfect storm of understeer and brake balance compounded the Mexican’s woe.
“We had a good SQ1, but then in SQ2 we were struggling a little bit with the balance,” Perex explained.
“We had a little bit of understeer with the track [temperature] coming down. We tried to [fix] it with basically the brake balance and the tools that I had available.
“I ended up too rear-limited, and then it was a bit confusing with the problem.
“We thought we might have a chance for a second lap, and unfortunately, we didn’t.”
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