Red Bull team principal Christian Horner believes Max Verstappen has a long way to go in Saudi Arabia after a disappointing qualifying result. The British driver feels that Sergio Perez needs a clean race and perfect execution while the Dutchman will have a challenging race from 15th place in the standings.
Expressing his views on Red Bull’s qualifying results against the Saudi GP, Horner said on Saturday:
“A story about two elimination sessions today. First, Checo’s stellar performance. He drove extremely well and did a great lap that put him on the high end; His second column here, Jeddah, back to back. On the other hand, it’s extremely frustrating for Max. A damaged drive shaft knocked him out of the qualifiers when we were really just starting in Q2.
“His lap in Q1 will put him in P4 for tomorrow’s race. It’s a shame, but we’re in the process of figuring things out. Max has a mountain to climb from 15th place. , but knowing Max, he will rise to the challenge and it will certainly be interesting to see what he achieves.For Checo, it’s about sticking to strategy, staying out of trouble, and surviving the game. those first laps. There’s a lot of action to come and a lot to look forward to.”
The defending champion made it through to the 15th qualifying round for the race, after he was dropped from Q2 due to a damaged drive shaft. Team Red Bull is confident the Dutchman will come out on top during the race but wish both cars had the lead in the race.
Max Verstappen discusses reasons for poor quality, feels it will be an unpredictable race
Max Verstappen says the driveshaft on his car broke down during qualifying without prior warning, leading to his disqualification from the second session. The Dutch champion also mentioned that his car was in good condition throughout the weekend and showed no signs of any problems with it until Q2.
He felt the race in Jeddah would be unpredictable and they cut his job. Speaking after the elimination session of the Saudi Arabian GP, ​​Verstappen said:
“The driveshaft broke at the 10th bend in the rear right, so that was to qualify. It happened really suddenly. We haven’t had any problems before. It’s annoying because the car was fine until then. I feel comfortable in every training session and every time on the track. I was very fast, so for sure we could have fought for the pole.
“Instead, now we have a bit more work ahead of us tomorrow but it is what it is, this is a long Championship and we will keep a positive attitude. I think a win is a win. It will be difficult from that position but I will try to score as many points as possible. It will be difficult to get ahead, but we will not give up. Anything is possible at this track. “We’ve seen some crazy things here, but we have to be realistic. It’s going to be tough but we have good pace so we’ll definitely move forward.”
Starting in 15th on the grid, it will be a long race for the double champion, so a clean race with no problems will be key to a good result.
