Verstappen perplexed as “very weird” Q3 balance change leaves him seventh

Verstappen was frustrated by his Q3 form in Monza

Max Verstappen was left struggling for an explanation after the balance of his Red Bull RB20 changed from Q2 to Q3 in qualifying at Monza.

The Dutchman was an encouraging second fastest in Q2, but having gone slower in the final session he could manage only seventh on the grid.

He’s also pessimistic about his race chances given that a tricky car will potentially be hard on its tyres.

“For whatever reason in Q3 I picked up a lot of understeer on both tyre sets, and this is something that I don’t understand at the moment,” he said.

“I mean, it was just not drivable anymore. I couldn’t attack any corner. So that’s something that is very weird. I mean, going four-tenths slower than what you did in Q2 is not normal.

“The only explanation is that it felt better on a scrubbed tyre for me than on a new. I mean, the balance difference that I had in Q3 was very weird. Never experienced something like that before.”

Asked if it was something that could be addressed with a wing adjustment he gave an insight into the problems that he’s faced recently.

“Yeah, but it’s just weird that it suddenly happens, because Q1/Q2 it was not like that,” he said. “But at the other hand, also, our car is extremely tricky to drive from entry to mid-corner.

“Like it’s a massive balance shift at the moment. So if you fix one thing, it creates another problem. So we have to be quite careful with that as well.

“It doesn’t help that we don’t have a Monza wing, so we’ve been trimming the wing a lot, and that’s not the most efficient way of going at it. But the balance issues that I’m experiencing now, I’ve had for a long time.”

He downplayed the impact of team mate Sergio Perez running wide in front of him on his final lap.

“I already had the same problem on the lap before, you know, on the other tyre set. So it was just not working for whatever reason.”

Asked if he could still fight for victory he said: “Normally not, the whole weekend already, we were too slow. The long runs, they might look good on paper, but it didn’t really feel like that personally.

“The problem is that when you don’t have a balanced car, of course, in the race, that is quite painful on tyres also. So let’s see.

“I mean, maybe with how the car is at the moment, it might be a little bit better for the race, but we’re also starting in the back of let’s say the top group, so just have to wait and see what happens in front of us.

“And there are a few unknowns with the graining as well. We’ll find out tomorrow.”