Max Verstappen was left rueing the loss of a potential top three start for the Formula 1 Barcelona Catalunya Grand Prix, after issues on his final lap of qualifying.
Verstappen and Red Bull entered qualifying with a mountain to climb after a difficult Friday that saw the four-time world champions sliding around the track.
Extensive setup changes were made to his RB22 ahead of qualifying, with the Dutchman showing flashes of pace in Q1, Q2 and the early stages of Q3.
But speaking after Q3, Verstappen admitted fundamental sensitivity issues still remained, hindering his efforts,
“We just struggled a lot with the car. In qualifying, it was a little bit better, but I was still a little bit surprised by how much the gap shrank.
“Our car is just a little bit sensitive, but I think, overall, we can be quite happy with this pace. Throughout the whole weekend, I think we were lacking six or seven tenths, and now it’s within three tenths.
Last lap issues for Max Verstappen
Revealing why his pace suddenly dropped off on his final lap. Verstappen confirmed the last sector as the cause of his issues and rued the loss of a potential second-row start.
“On my last lap, for whatever reason, I just started to slide a little bit too much in the final sector to get any more lap time out of it, so I lost quite a bit of time in Turns 10 and 12.
“From there onwards, I probably took it a bit easy in the final corner because the feeling was gone.
“Otherwise, P3, of course, would have been on the cards, but at the end of the day, I don’t think it would have made a massive difference to our result tomorrow because it’s going to be all about tyre degradation, pit stops and strategy.
“We’ll see how we go tomorrow.”
Verstappen can take solace from his performance on Saturday that Red Bull has taken a step forward, but moving forward in Barcelona, a track not known for overtaking, could prove challenging.
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