"Weird" for Verstappen to claim F1 Abu Dhabi GP pole after struggles
Max Verstappen says it feels “very weird” to be on pole position for Formula 1’s 2023 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after struggling with the Red Bull for “the whole weekend”.
The three-time champion signed off his season’s qualifying efforts with a 12th pole, having pipped Ferrari rival Charles Leclerc by 0.139 seconds despite failing to improve with his final Q3 attack.
But Verstappen had called out the behaviour of the dominant RB19 throughout practice, even leading Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko to wager €500 that his driver would not hit the front-row.
As such, Verstappen reckoned it was “very weird” to have topped the timing screens given the struggles to tame the car.
Verstappen, who missed FP1 so that Formula E champion Jake Dennis could contest the session as a rookie for Red Bull, said: “Very weird. I mean, the whole weekend so far has been a bit of a struggle.
“We definitely improved the car for qualifying. From lap one, it all seemed a bit more together. We could definitely push more.”
After snatching pole, Verstappen’s race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase radioed “I reckon you owe this [beep] box an apology” in deference to his driver’s less than complimentary comments about the car.
Verstappen added: “Around here already with the tyres, if you do little slides and whatever, it can cost you a lot of lap time. That was what was happening for us in practice.
“But then in qualifying, it all just was a bit more connected…
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB19
“I have no clue how good we're going to be in the race. Normally we are always quite decent.
“It’s been a very special season. We've been enjoying it a lot.”
Verstappen reckoned the RB19 had been sliding about too much during practice, with FP2 featuring only a quarter of an hour of running due to red flags for crashes for Carlos Sainz and Nico Hulkenberg.
Speaking on Friday night after FP2, Verstappen said: “We had limited track time in FP2, so we weren't able to learn as much as we wanted to.
“I didn't expect the balance to be so far off, there was a lot of understeer and jumping.
“We need to make some big improvements to be good in qualifying."
Share Or Save This Story
Marko: Perez improved F1 form because 2025 contract talks are at stake
Russell explains how low-fuel runs expose Mercedes F1 inconsistency
The impatient pair who’d hoped to be a thorn in Red Bull’s side again
Autosport magazine: Verstappen’s future and the challenge of F1
Red Bull targets Piastri as Verstappen replacement option
Exclusive: The story behind Red Bull and Verstappen's F1 turnaround in Miami
"We love V8s" - What F1 manufacturers think about future engine regulations
Why Red Bull and McLaren sat down after surprising comments about Lambiase's role
The intrigue sparked by Red Bull's Miami sidepod design
WRC Portugal: Organisers investigate major stage security breach
Ford in talks with Verstappen about WEC Hypercar opportunities
The factors behind Honda's pace-setting speed in French MotoGP practice
WRC Portugal: Fourmaux off hands Ogier rally lead
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments