Red Bull’s Max Verstappen believes the end of his Formula 1 winning streak is imminent following a disappointing qualifying session in Singapore.
The Dutch driver could only manage the 11th fastest time during Saturday’s session, leaving him facing the prospect of starting on the sixth row of the grid at best.
Furthermore, Verstappen is under investigation and may face a grid penalty for impeding Yuki Tsunoda during the qualifying session.
Verstappen’s struggles became evident in Q2 when Liam Lawson outpaced him with a remarkable final flying lap, relegating Verstappen to a position outside the top 10.
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His initial reaction was one of frustration, as he expressed his displeasure over the radio before exiting his car and storming down the pit lane.
After regaining his composure, Verstappen fulfilled his media obligations and provided a candid assessment of his situation.
He admitted, “I knew it was always going to be tough to put it on pole, but this I didn’t expect.”
The championship leader elaborated on the challenges he faced with his car during the session, stating, “FP3 things were not too bad, but then we tried a few things on the car for qualifying and I think that tipped it over and it became undriveable again.
“The car was massively bottoming out in the big braking zones, and all the time, if I wanted to brake late and hard, then my front wheels were getting unloaded.”
Verstappen’s frustration with the car’s handling was evident as he described the experience as “just really difficult to drive.”
When asked about his chances of winning on Sunday, Verstappen was straightforward in his response, stating, “No, no, for sure not. Here it’s much less about actually having a good race car.
|It’s a bit like Monaco, you put it all on qualifying, and even if you have degradation, it doesn’t matter because people won’t really pass you – the tire wear is not that high.”
He anticipates a challenging race ahead and expressed hope that the number of safety car deployments remains limited to keep the race duration short.
Verstappen also emphasised the importance of his Red Bull team quickly identifying the reasons behind the car’s poor performance to prevent a recurring issue in future races.
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Verstappen concluded, “At this point, it was so messy that it doesn’t matter if we start P11, 15th, or last.
“It’s more important that we just understand why it was so bad.
“For me, that’s way more important than trying to score a couple of points this weekend.”