Max Verstappen has warned that the issues with Red Bull’s Formula 1 car have not been resolved, despite taking a “special” pole position at the Japanese Grand Prix.
Verstappen delivered an astounding lap on his final Q3 attempt to usurp Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, the McLaren duo who had dominated the weekend until then.
Having headed the times across all three practice hours, McLaren consolidated its status as the side to beat as its drivers also occupied top spot again in Q1 and Q2.
Piastri replicated that to claim provisional pole, while Norris, who had made a mistake on his opening run, made it a McLaren 1-2 once he improved on his second lap.
However, Verstappen produced an exceptional time on his last attempt in the shootout to eclipse Norris and Piastri, a mere 0.044 seconds separating the leading trio.
“Yeah, a lot of, I would say, happiness when I crossed the line,” Verstappen told media including Motorsport Week.
“The whole qualifying, we just kept on trying to improve the situation a bit. And yeah, the final lap, honestly, was very good.
“I had a lot of fun out there, you know, being fully committed everywhere.
“Some places, not sure if I was actually going to keep it or not, but yeah, it was really nice and yeah, also great for the team as well.”
Verstappen, whose emotion was visible as he vacated his RB21, expressed that the result takes on added significance amid Red Bull’s troubled start to the campaign.
Asked whether it was the best pole he has achieved in his career to date, Verstappen responded: “It’s difficult.
“I mean, I’ve had some really nice ones also in other places, but I think if you look at how our season started, even during this weekend,
“I think, yeah, it’s very unexpected, I would say, and I think that makes it, yeah, probably a very special one.”
Verstappen still not content with RB21
The Dutchman had rued his RB21 not being in the sweet spot as he trailed over five tenths behind the pacesetting McLaren across the opening two practice sessions.
But while Red Bull had managed to close the gap overnight, Verstappen admitted that he was still not content with his car’s balance through Suzuka’s sweeping turns.
“Just trying a lot of different things to try and make it more balanced, which it is a bit of a difficulty for us at the moment, and even in qualifying, that is still the same,” he explained.
“I mean, I could be more committed, but I mean, I’m on pole, but I’m still not happy with the balance of the car, but we are working on it, and yeah, for us, this is a great little surprise.”
Red Bull hasn’t made breakthrough despite Japan pole
Verstappen is adamant his exploits aren’t an indication that Red Bull has made a breakthrough in addressing the limitations that have been prevalent within the RB21.
“For me at least, it’s just the true corner balance that is very difficult to manage,” he expanded.
“But we clearly got it in a window where at least it was driveable to push. And yeah, luckily then it was enough, I guess, for first.
“But it’s still not… I mean, this is not suddenly now… Like, I don’t say, oh, I’m first now, everything is perfect.
“You know, we still have clear issues that we need to solve. That’s what we are continuing to work on.
“This is a very tough track for the car in general; it’s high speed. So any little balance limitation that you have can sometimes be multiplied in some places around the lap.
“So probably some tracks might work out a bit better for us and maybe some will be a bit worse.
“But yeah, it was clear that up until now, this whole weekend, we have been really experimenting a lot to try and find that driveable balance.
“And at least that it allowed me to push a bit more.”
READ MORE – Max Verstappen usurps McLaren duo to steal pole in Japan
