'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Max Verstappen has pinpointed Red Bull's qualifying as one area where the car is just not that great. The driver secured pole position in the first race of the season in Bahrain by around three-tenths against the likes of Charles Leclerc and George Russell. The true dominance was, however, reflected in the race.
In the early stages of the race, Dutchman pulled away from the entire field by lapping close to a second per lap quicker than anybody else. The driver was just in a different category from everyone else in the chasing pack, and as the race progressed, his teammate Sergio Perez would also make his way through the field to finish second in the race.
Max Verstappen's dominance was, however, at a completely different level, as he ended up finishing the race more than 20 seconds ahead of even his teammate.
In the post-race drivers' press conference, the driver was questioned if there were a few areas where he felt the car needed to improve. The driver pointed at qualifying and said that is one area where the car is just not that great. He said:
“I do think that we are just not that great on one-lap performance for whatever reason with the car. But luckily it’s very good in the race for most tracks.
"Naturally, of course, you focus a little bit more on the race, but yeah, it just seems like other teams can maybe extract a little bit more over one lap than us for whatever reason. So that’s what we’ll look at for the coming races."
He added:
“But yeah, I really think that also just… The circumstances today [the race] with the wind helped us out a bit more compared to the last two days. So probably it was not in our favor with how the car is responding at the moment.”
Max Verstappen talks about Charles Leclerc not having the fastest time in qualifying
Charles Leclerc had the fastest time overall in qualifying, and he had achieved it in Q2. In Q3, however, he did not have the best of laps and hence, fell short of the benchmark set by Max Verstappen in that session.
Further elaborating on his point about qualifying, Verstappen cited Leclerc's example, saying:
“This weekend, of course, I think in the race, we’re still very strong. But if you look at qualifying, I, of course, put it on pole. But the fastest lap was done in Q2 by Charles, you know. So over one lap, I don’t think it’s that straightforward. And every track is different."
He added:
“So maybe we rock up in Jeddah and you have a different feeling. And naturally, on tracks with lower degradation, teams will be closer. And yeah, luckily, we don’t have too many Singapores on the calendar. Otherwise, it might be a bit of a struggle for us. But let’s see this year if it’s a bit better on street circuits as well.”
It will be interesting to see if Max Verstappen continues to have superiority in qualifying as well as in the race because if Red Bull starts losing out in qualifying, we could be looking at a better and more competitive season.
