Max Verstappen has indicated that overheating of his tyres in qualifying for the Formula 1 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix masked the improvements Red Bull has made via new upgrades.
The Dutchman was desperately close to claiming yet another pole position against the odds at the Imola circuit, holding provisional pole until the end of the session.
But after going purple in sector one on his final run, he would finish it just three hundredths of a second short of Oscar Piastri’s time.
There appeared to be marked improvement by the RB21, which arrived at Imola fresh with new upgrades, including that to its floor.
Speaking to media including Motorsport Week after qualifying, Verstappen suggested that the Soft C6 compound, brought by Pirelli, might have contributed to overheating issues.
“I think compared to yesterday, we improved a lot again,” he said. “The car was a lot nicer to drive. The only problem I think that I had in qualifying was basically the faster I wanted to go, the more problems that I had with the tyres just overheating. That was just holding me back in Q3 already, run one.
“And then when I tried to go faster, basically on the second run, sector one was great. And then I just ran out of tyres.
“So yeah, I just started understeering more and I just tried to keep the lap together really. But that’s a bit of a shame, I think.
“Of course, we came in, I saw that George was on the medium. And honestly, I also felt better in on the medium. But simply, you don’t really have the tyres to qualify on it properly.
“Of course, for tomorrow, we want to make sure that we have the tyres in a good window.”
Verstappen lamented that the car’s contuining struggles to manage tyre temperatures, compared to how McLaren have dealt with it, is still an issue, but concluded the upgrades made a positive influence on performance.
“Yesterday was a tough start, but I think today we definitely put it in a better window,” he said. “I was a bit happier with how the car was just coming alive and also the balance of the car, so I definitely think that’s a positive.
“It’s just that I think the tyre compounds this weekend didn’t really help us to be that soft, because we know that we just overheat our tyres a bit more than we would like.
“So that is, of course, still a focus point for us.”
Verstappen predicts few teams ‘will touch’ C6 tyre in Imola GP
In the free practice sessions prior to qualifying at Imola, the Red Bull’s race pace looked far from conclusive, and Verstappen is cautious that it will be repeated in the actual race on Sunday.
“I mean, I just try to do a good start and then just see where I’m at with the pace, because yesterday wasn’t particularly good in the long run also,” he said.
“And then, yeah, just see with the new setup that we have on the car. Hopefully it all just sticks a bit better on the tarmac and hopefully, just in general, a bit more competitive.”
Asked if the C6 tyre will present more strategic opportunities in the race, Verstappen was sceptical that the tyre will be used if teams opt to run longer.
“I don’t know yet. I don’t think many people will touch the C6 if you need to do a lot of laps in a row. But yeah, we’ll see tomorrow.”
Verstappen added that the compound might work better at Monaco next week, wondering if the Imola circuit is perhaps too fast for it to see significant long-terms benefit.
“Yeah, I think it’s just the layout of this track, also too many high-speed corners. Probably when you go to a more low-speed corner track, it probably will be a little bit better. So, let’s see next week how that will go.”
READ MORE – Oscar Piastri overcomes Max Verstappen challenge to clinch F1 Imola GP pole
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