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Max Verstappen was left in a furious state after the Red Bull driver struggled with the grip of his RB21 at the Hungarian GP qualifying. As a result of his struggles, the four-time world champion ended up in P8, making it one of his worst results in qualifying in recent seasons.
The Dutchman could only manage 1:15.728 on the timesheet, which was 0.356 seconds slower than Charles Leclerc, the pole sitter for Sunday's race. The Dutch driver visibly struggled with his grip throughout the session, and it was quite clearly evident in his final run as he was in the out lap.
This resulted in him venting out his frustration on the team radio, as he complained how he felt he was driving on ice at the cold Hungaroring track. Taking to his radio, here's what he said:
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"Already on the out lap, I have again no grip. It's literally like driving on ice. And then at the last sector the tires still die."
Leclerc managed to claim the shock pole ahead of McLaren's Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris. George Russell and Fernando Alonso wrapped up the top five. Lance Stroll of Aston Martin qualified in P6, ahead of Gabriel Bortoleto. The Racing Bulls drivers Liam Lawson and Isack Hadjar completed the top 10 starting positions.
Max Verstappen let his feelings known ahead of Sunday's Hungarian GP
Max Verstappen struck a pessimistic tone as he shared his thoughts after experiencing an underwhelming outing on Saturday. Here's what the Red Bull driver told Sky Sports in the post-race interview:
"Every session was difficult, so, it doesn't make a difference."
When asked how tough it was on the track, as he had said it felt like driving on ice, Verstappen replied:
"That's been every session. The whole weekend. Quali was the same."
Verstappen managed P11 in Q1 and P8 in Q2. Besides this, his FP1, FP2 and FP3 performances were far from impressive. In FP1, he finished in P9, FP2 in P14, and FP3 in P12.
Max Verstappen is currently placed P3 in the Drivers' Championship with 185 points after 13 races and three Sprints. He trails the McLaren duo of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris by 81 and 65 points, respectively.
