During the buildup to the Japanese Grand Prix, while Max Verstappen was lamenting a lack of confidence in the RB21 McLaren seemed to have the dominant package, as Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri took turns topping the timing sheets. But when qualifying drew to a close it was Verstappen who took pole position, en route to his first win of the season.
With that same scenario playing out in the days ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix — the McLaren duo again trading times atop the leaderboard while Verstappen sounded the alarm about the RB21 being “too slow” — many wondered if the Red Bull driver would still find a way to take pole position in the desert.
Instead, it will be Piastri up front when the lights go out Sunday at Bahrain International Circuit, while Verstappen is left on the fourth row after qualifying seventh on Saturday. Speaking with the media following the session, Verstappen described the weekend as “tough” ahead of the race.
“Yeah, it was tough – tough all weekend, I think,” said Verstappen on Saturday.
“For whatever reason I’ve been struggling with the brakes, the feeling also, feeling retardation, so it’s something that we need to investigate,” added Verstappen. “And then general grip, I guess, throughout the lap, [it was] quite inconsistent, and then of course that makes it very hard to understand what you actually need from the car when, for whatever reason, we can’t seem to make the tires work.”
Verstappen noted that Red Bull tried to find answers with the setup, but nothing the team tried seemed to stick.
“So we have tried a lot, honestly, with the set-up – left, right, up and down! But unfortunately nothing really gave us a clear answer, so that is of course a bit of a shame,” said Verstappen.
As for his expectations for Sunday, the reigning Drivers’ Champion noted that things will be “difficult,” and that the McLarens might be too far out of reach.
“[I’m] not sure what to expect, to be honest,” added Verstappen. “In the past, high-deg tracks have been good to us, but with the balance that we had today I think it will be very difficult.
“But of course I’m only looking forward – I’m trying to at least better some cars ahead. Normally the McLarens I think will be too quick, but maybe the other ones we can follow.”
Verstappen may feel that the McLarens are too far out of reach, but if anyone can catch them on Sunday in Bahrain, it is him.
