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Verstappen shocked by ‘crazy’ turnaround after P1 qualifying as he prepares for ‘tough’ race in Qatar
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Max Verstappen was left surprised after claiming P1 in qualifying for the Qatar Grand Prix, with the Dutchman admitting that he “didn’t expect” the turnaround in his car’s performance following a difficult run hours earlier in the Sprint. However, the Red Bull man will now start the Grand Prix from P2 after being hit with a one-place grid drop post-qualifying
Having started from P6 in the 100km dash, Verstappen slipped backwards at the start after struggling with oversteer in his RB20. He eventually recovered to P8, but suggested afterwards that the issues could be difficult to solve for the rest of the weekend.
READ MORE: Verstappen beats Russell to surprise pole position in Qatar by just 0.055s
Fast forward to qualifying and things looked very different for Verstappen, culminating in the world champion storming to P1 in the final moments of Q3 to displace George Russell by just 0.055s, though he would be later hit with his grid drop.
Asked about the turnaround after jumping out of the car, Verstappen responded: “Yeah, crazy! Honestly, I also didn’t expect that. Well done to the team to give me a car that feels a bit more connected. Once the car is together you can also push harder. It felt a lot better out there in qualifying for me.”
Pushed further on what the secret was to the dramatic change – with parc ferme rules lifted after the Sprint – the Red Bull man explained: “I mean, we did change a bit on the car but I never thought it would make such a swing in performance so that’s promising.
2024 Qatar GP Qualifying: Max Verstappen crosses the line to seal pole position
“I hope of course it also lasts tomorrow in the race – I don’t know that yet. It just felt already a lot more stable over one lap and that’s exactly what we need. Very happy to be on pole – it’s been a while.”
Looking ahead to the penultimate race of the season, Verstappen suggested that it could be a challenging one for more than one reason.
“It’s going to be a tough race I think physically, but I think also mainly on the tyres, just making sure that you’re good on them,” the 27-year-old said.
“The front left around here gets eaten up quite a lot so it’s all about managing that tomorrow, but I hope that with the set-up that we have on the car now, it will be a bit better.”
Perez brands P9 in qualifying ‘a good step considering where we’ve been’
In terms of who he views as the biggest threat for his victory chances, Verstappen acknowledged that “it’s all very close behind”, adding: “You could see in the Sprint – Mercedes, McLaren and Ferrari were all quick. Now it seems like we are in that mix, and I hope tomorrow as well.”
On the other side of the Red Bull garage, it was a better outing than of late for Sergio Perez. Having faced a number of Q1 exits recently – including in Friday’s Sprint Qualifying, leading to his Sprint effectively becoming a test session – the Mexican avoided such a fate this time and progressed to Q3 where he ultimately ended up in ninth place.
“I think that was a good step considering where we’ve been, with the disconnected balance we’ve been having with the car,” Perez commented after qualifying. “There is still some work to do and to be done, to be able to bring it all a little bit more together.
“I think we should be able to be competitive [in the race], have some good pace, and hopefully we will be in the mix. Hopefully early on we will be able to go with the leaders.”
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