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Red Bull chief advisor Helmut Marko felt that the team had an uphill task after a poor qualifying session. In what came as a surprise in terms of a result, neither of the two drivers was able to qualify in the top five. Marko said that the team struggled with the ride height on the bumpy COTA track.
Red Bull tend to have one of the best cars that have the ability to run closer to the ground without porpoising. On tracks that are bumpy, though, this advantage gets taken away from the team and hence compromises the setup. This was precisely what happened in Singapore where they could not even secure a podium.
For the race in COTA, however, the car is still quite competitive. Max Verstappen would've secured a pole position as well if not for the track limits penalty which means he starts the race in P6.
Looking back at qualifying, Marko revealed that Sergio Perez blocking Max played a role in the first run. Meanwhile, the second run was marred by an error from the Red Bull driver. He told ServusTV:
"We knew it was going to be tight [in qualifying but on Max's] first lap in Q3, Checo got in the way. It was a communication error, and on the second run at Turn 1, there was a lock-up and it's tragic when you drop from first to sixth place. The cars in front of [Max] are all strong opponents and it will be a tough race."
He added:
"The bumps hurt us more than others, we couldn't drive with the rideheight we planned. But in the long run, we can make up some ground. "On Sunday, the temperature should be very high, and ty wear should come into play, which is a strength of ours."
Red Bull driver looking forward to the race
Red Bull lead driver Max Verstappen was a bit disappointed that his pole lap was deleted due to track limit infringement. Having said that, the driver was still excited for the race as he felt the car still had the pace to get a good result. He said:
“It was a shame to miss out on pole with my deleted lap but I knew in Turn 19 it would be a close call. I made a mistake in Turn One so I had to really push for the rest of the lap, I didn't understeer or anything, I just really tried to maximise the corner and I misjudged it. Margins are very fine when you are pushing to the limit."
He added:
"Of course, it's unfortunate but it makes the Sunday race more enjoyable. Now our focus turns to the Sprint race tomorrow, we want to win that and the race on Sunday. It's a long weekend and a lot can happen, I'm going to have some fun out there that's for sure."
Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez did not have a great qualifying session either as he will start the race on Sunday in P9.
