Max Verstappen is mystified as to why he and Red Bull are struggling for pace at the Hungarian GP.
Red Bull and Max Verstappen struggled for performance from the outset at the Hungarian GP. The RB21 proved challenging to set up, with balance issues all weekend.
Friday proved to be challenging for the reigning world champion, reporting over the radio that driving his car felt akin to “driving on ice”. Verstappen finished 12th and 14th in Friday’s practice sessions.
Hopes were pinned on overnight work and replicating a dramatic turnaround for qualifying day. Whilst the RB21 did show signs of improvement in final practice, Max Verstappen continued to battle his car.
Finishing ninth in Q1, he once again struggled for balance, having waited until the dying seconds of the session to progress into Q2.
The second part of qualifying was equally as difficult. In the drop zone once again, he moved into eighth in the closing seconds, but safely progressed.
Mystery of lack of pace for Max Verstappen in Hungarian GP qualifying
Q3 saw a repeat of the same issues, the Dutchman eventually having to settle for eighth on the grid for Sunday’s race. He was outqualified by the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto, but crucially outperformed the Racing Bulls of Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson.
Having won the Sprint Race in Belgium last weekend, qualifying for the Hungarian GP proved to be a complete turnaround.
Speaking to the media after qualifying, Max Verstappen was asked why his team had failed to find a solution. He admitted that he and the team had failed, indicating that extensive investigations had taken place overnight.
“We didn’t seem to find it,” he said. “I mean, we tried a lot as a team, and unfortunately, yeah, nothing really helped our balance.
“It’s really difficult to explain how, yeah, we suddenly just, this weekend then, suddenly just had a lot of difficulties with the car. Just no grip in the front, in the rear, difficult to balance it out.
“It’s a bit of a mystery at the moment.
The Dutchman acknowledged the challenges he faced at the Hungarian GP, admitting the difficulties faced acorss the weekend.
“Just the whole weekend off, off pace.”
Ahead of Sunday’s race, the reigning world champion lies 81 points behind championship leader Oscar Piastri with 11 races to go.
The Constructors’ Championship looks to be out of reach for Red Bull, now lying fourth, 324 point behind leaders McLaren.
