Max Verstappen rued his poor result in qualifying for the Formula 1 Sao Paulo Grand Prix Sprint Race, finishing only sixth-fastest in what he described as an “undriveable” Red Bull.
The Dutchman could not get to grips with the RB21 as he has across recent races at Interlagos, the car a class away from both the McLaren and Mercedes packages respectively.
Not only was Verstappen adrift of both of those teams’ drivers, but he was also behind the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso, leaving him starting in not only an uncharacteristic position, but also on the dirty side of the track.
After the session, Verstappen explained why he was unable to extract any more from the car, which he described over the radio as “undriveable” and “completely broken”.
“No, I mean, yeah, a lot of vibration in the car, a lot of just ride problems” he said. “So, yeah, not what we want, but I mean, besides that, I think also we just don’t have the grip.
“The middle sector is terrible, so I just can’t get the car to turn, but at the same time also I can’t really rely on the rear. So, yeah, for us it’s just quite poor, I would say.”
Last year, Verstappen, in what was a similarly inferior machine, took a remarkable victory on the same track in wet conditions.
Tomorrow is promising similar weather, leaving many to wonder whether Verstappen to conjure another performance, but he played down such expectations.
“I don’t know, we’ll find out, right?” he said.
“I mean, I think it’s quite clear that we are lacking something and I’m not expecting that suddenly to be miles better in the wet, but we’ll see tomorrow.”
Marko admits Red Bull issues ‘can’t be cured’ for Sprint but holds hope for Grand Prix
Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko was slightly more optimistic about the weekend as a whole, saying there is a possibility that the car’s problems can be fixed for the Grand Prix.
However, he ruled out anything further for the Sprint.
“I mean, if you look Sector 1 and 3, we are hundreds away from Norris. And [the] middle sector, there are the most corners, it’s basically no grip, which means we don’t have enough downforce. And that’s something which we can’t cure for the Sprint Race.
“But hopefully, with all the data we get, we can attack and make it for the main race that we are more competitive.”
When asked if the weather could give Verstappen an edge for the race, Marko replied: “I mean, it must rain, otherwise no chance.”
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