Red Bull driver Max Verstappen has vented his frustration after relinquishing pole position at the Turkish Grand Prix, blaming it on a struggle with intermediates.
The Dutchman, having led all practice sessions was beaten to pole position by Racing Point driver Lance Stroll, who took full advantage of intermediate tyres to enter a Formula 1 race in pole position for the first time in his career.
“We should have been doing better switching to that tyre. We definitely missed something there,’ Verstappen said.
“When you are first all the time, and come out second, it’s not what you want to do.”
After a “very, very comfortable” stint in which he came first in all rounds heading into the final one, Verstappen vented his frustration at his failure to secure pole position, saying that his Red Bull struggled with intermediates and that he did not manage to make work in the final round of qualifying.
“I’m upset because the whole weekend I’ve been comfortable and I feel terrible now,’ added the driver, who has won nine Grands Prix to date but only twice started on pole.
“When you are first all the time, and come out second, it’s not what you want to do.”
“I’m upset because the whole weekend I’ve been comfortable and I feel terrible now,” added the driver, who has won nine Grands Prix to date but only twice started on pole.
“Clearly something is not working for us with that tyre, and yes it was extremely disappointing when you’re first in every session and then where it matters…
“It’s not what I like, but it can’t be all the time positive – and then saying that you’re still second – but I always want the best, I always try to do better.”
The 23-year-old was the quickest during practice sessions on Friday and Saturday, while Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton’s – who could equal Michael Schumacher’s 2004 record of seven world championships on Sunday with a win – has had to settle for the sixth pole after struggling.
The Englishman will land a record-equaling seventh championship title provided his team-mate Valterri Bottas, who finished ninth doesn’t outscore him by eight points or more on the Istanbul tracks.
Hamilton, unimpressed with the tracks in Turkey slammed it as “S*** with a capital S!”
Verstappen also seemed unsure about the outcome of Sunday’s race, saying: “I think it’s just very hard to pass around here because there is only one line, so you can’t really go offline because you lose a lot of grips. So we’ll see how we’ll have to manage that”.
He should suck it up and work harder.