Max Verstappen suggested that he will need to “cut a corner” of the Losail International Circuit if he has any hope of beating McLaren in Formula 1‘s Qatar Grand Prix.
The Dutchman lines up in third place, the title outsider positioned just behind fellow protagonists Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.
Norris would secure the title with a race win and avoid the tension of a final round decider in Abu Dhabi. Verstappen must win to keep his slim chances of a fifth straight title alive.
The Red Bull man has suffered across the weekend in Doha, complaining of extreme porpoising in both the Sprint qualifying session, and the race itself.
After qualifying for the full Grand Prix on Saturday night, Verstappen explained the RB21 had improved somewhat with a few adjustments, but still felt restricted by some of the issues.
“It was better,” he revealed to media including Motorsport Week. “Just trying to cancel out a bit the issues that we had yesterday, which felt a little bit nicer, but it’s still there.
“Plus, just not really having enough front grip still, which is then limiting you a bit around the lap, around here, especially with all these long, medium-speed corners. That basically doesn’t allow you to push harder.
“That is basically what happened also in qualifying. We tried to, of course, make the best out of it in terms of prep, making sure that we’re on top of everything with what we can change still.
“It was all right. The final lap was good, but just limited with the issues that I’m experiencing at the moment.”
Verstappen believes track limits would be the only way to overtake McLaren duo
Verstappen has been realistic about his title chances, whether it was when he was firmly on the periphery and ‘best of the rest’, or when it was after Las Vegas, when he reduced the gap to just 24 points via his win and McLaren’s double-disqualification.
With the Red Bull limited to mitigating – and not fully eradicating – its extreme bouncing issues, Verstappen appeared to accept his chances of victory are minimal, and offered his illegal but solitary solution.
“It will be tough,” he said. “In the Sprint as well, I tried, but then we just fall into that window where we just struggle a lot on the tyres and we don’t seem to really be able to keep up.
“Also, the few final laps of Oscar in that sprint, I need to cut a corner to do that. It will be maybe a little bit better, but it will be tough to do that.
“Let’s see. It’s a long race. Anything can happen.”
The track surface is Losail, with its higher-speed profile and high levels of grip, contributed to a Sprint Race with minimal overtaking, exacerbated by an overly short DRS zone leading towards Turn 1.
These, plus the additional of full tanks of fuel from the start of the race, sees Verstappen looking at an event that will deliver limited close-quarter battles, further emphasising the task at hand for the reigning World Champion.
“Today, the Sprint was pretty boring, I would say, because you just can’t follow close, tyres overheat,” he said.
“Plus, with all these high-speed corners and high grip as well, it’s just super tough to get close. Tomorrow, there’s a lot more fuel in the car.
“The start, for sure, is important. You never know. It can also be influenced by other cars in the race that might ruin your own race.
“It’s impossible to say now already that it’s going to be boring tomorrow.”
READ MORE – Lando Norris: Max Verstappen ‘doesn’t have a clue’ with ‘nonsense’ McLaren F1 title claim
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