Charles Leclerc’s pole position left both Red Bull’s drivers disappointed with their own performance in qualifying in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Speaking after the session, second-placed Sergio Perez said: “It wasn’t an ideal qualifying. We couldn’t turn the engine on. We lost a few tenths. I think Charles had a very good lap.”
Verstappen also hinted at problems with the car setup, saying: “The start of the lap was good and then it went away from me a little bit with tiny mistakes. Not ideal but in general just struggling a bit to find front or rear balance.
“Not of course what I want but still, as a team, being second and third we have a good opportunity. Overall we seemed to lack a little bit over one lap but in the long run our cars should be quite good.”
Lewis Hamilton took seventh but struggled to match Red Bull and Ferrari for pace.
“I’m not surprised, it was the same in Monaco,” he admitted, though he was not giving up.
He added: “There’s lots to look forward to, it’s a tricky and chaotic race. There’s lots that can happen. We’re in the top 10.
“It was a really difficult qualifying session because we’re constantly pushing. We have a very, very small window where we can work this car. Everything we try doesn’t give us what we want.
“We’re making lots of changes but coming up with the same conclusion which is often bouncing which loses us a lot of performance. But all the performance is when you get the car low. So you say, ‘OK, let’s take a beating in our backs and in our necks to get the car as low as possible, to get the performance.’
“A little bit lower, and it’s bouncing like crazy, but we’re still there, but we’re just very slow in the straights so it might be a struggle in the race but we’re going to give it everything. I hope we have a better race pace. Who knows?”
Hamilton is being investigated for slow pace during qualifying, something he explained should not be punished.
“Firstly I was offline, and I was within my delta time, and I wasn’t below that out lap pace, so I should be able to drive the pace I want,” he claimed.
Source: Euro Sports