Despite a dominant performance last weekend, Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen struggled for pace during the F1 Mexico City GP Qualifying. Verstappen complained about his overheated tyres, struggling with oversteer into Turn 9 across the qualifying session.
The Dutch driver ultimately qualified P5. He starts the race behind championship rival Lando Norris on pole position, but ahead of current championship leader Oscar Piastri in P7. Verstappen spoke to print media after Qualifying at the F1 Mexico City GP.
“It’s just been very difficult,” admits Verstappen
Verstappen appeared dejected following Qualifying at the F1 Mexico City GP. In a print media session, the Dutch driver admitted, “If you have to sum it up, I mean, there’s not much more to say. It’s just been very difficult. We’ve tried a lot of stuff. It’s not a lack of trying. But yeah, it’s been… It’s been, yeah, not great.”
Verstappen currently holds the record for most wins at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. The reigning World Champion reflected on his performance during last year’s race, where he felt his performance was “not good.”
Last year during the F1 Mexico City GP, Verstappen scored two 10-second penalties for forcing Norris off-track while fighting for P2. The Dutch driver subsequently finished P6 in the race.
Verstappen told print media, “We were not good here last year. I mean, people always think, ‘You’ve won here five times, so you need to be good here. But last year, we were not good as well. And the years before, we probably had a big advantage to not really suffer. Now, definitely, we are not good.“
Verstappen: “I have no pace…”
Red Bull Racing brought a new floor upgrade to the F1 Mexico City GP. Verstappen admitted he was unsure if the upgrade impacted his performance during qualifying, “Difficult to say when you have a weekend like this. That’s also something that we need to analyse.”
When asked about why this high-altitude track appeared so difficult, Verstappen responded, “I don’t know. I mean, it’s just no grip, and you just turn. And the traction, it slides.”
The Dutch driver lamented his pace across all sessions during the weekend thus far. Verstappen sat out of FP1 for rookie Arvid Lindblad, who finished the session in P6 ahead of Yuki Tsunoda. While Verstappen looked to be on the pace once returning for FP2, he clearly struggled with the car during FP3.
After qualifying at the F1 Mexico City GP, Verstappen stated, “I have no pace so it doesn’t matter what I do in Turn 1, even if I jump two cars, they will get me in the race. I just need to stay out of trouble, and just do my own race.”
Verstappen continued, “Every lap that I did, even the long runs, were weak compared to the cars ahead of me. So, I’ll just try to do my own thing.”
The Red Bull Racing driver spoke dejectedly about his chances for a recovery drive tomorrow, saying, “I mean, I will figure that out myself tomorrow. If I have an opportunity, I will go for it. But, I’m worried just about our race pace.”
