Verstappen frustrated by “bullshit” qualifying session

Max Verstappen had it frankly bad at the end of chaotic and choppy qualifying at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. 

His stable Red Bull However, she approached the Saturday afternoon session as the big favorite given the times in free practice. 

In the end, however, the Dutchman had to settle for 3rd time, a little more than 3/10th behind the poleman. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), while his teammate Sergio Pérez, very lively since the start of the Azerbaijani weekend as well, could not do better than the 7th mark. 

More than the level of performance of his RB16B, it was the Q3 scenario that pissed Verstappen off. As in Monaco, the world championship leader had a good card to play during his last attempt in Q3.

But as in Monaco, this final lap had to be aborted due to a red flag, the 4th of the afternoon, which hastened the end of the session and buried his hopes of starting in the lead on Sunday. 

« It was just a stupid qualification, honestly., exclaimed Verstappen at the microphone of former driver Johnny Herbert when he got out of the car. But hey, that’s life and we’re still 3rd. 

The car is competitive, we made up for it after Free Practice 3 (Verstappen had hit at turn 15, Editor’s note). Everything was going well. But this kind of shit happens all the time. It's a shame but it can happen on a street circuit. ». 

Verstappen was not discouraged however because he knows how to have a high-performance package on a circuit where it is possible to overtake.

« We are still at the top of the grid even if I would have liked to start even further ahead naturally, he added in a calmer tone. Nothing is decided and everything is possible, as we saw in qualifying. We will try to get a clean start and then we will see ». 

As in Monaco two weeks ago, Verstappen never got on the podium in Baku. The Dutchman hopes to be able to make history stutter on the shores of the Caspian Sea.