Max Verstappen lagging behind McLaren in Qatar: "The car was bad from the first lap"

It had been a long time since we had seen such an image. In the qualifying rounds, one master continues to impress this year, snatching victory right under the noses of... Lando Norris et Oscar piastri their due on more than one occasion. This time, the tightrope walker that is Max Verstappen stumbled, making a costly mistake early in SQ3.

Riding over a rumble strip and presumably damaging his flat bottom, the Dutchman did not wish to dwell on this fact, as he seemed to be lacking rhythm from the start according to him. "The car was bad from the first lap. Very unstable handling and very aggressive understeer that turned into oversteer at high speed," he explained in detail to Sky Sports. That's simply not what you need to go fast. We were stuck. We tried tweaking some settings on the steering wheel, but it never really worked, which made the situation quite tricky. We changed a few small things, but it wasn't working well, so it's something we need to figure out.

ALSO READ > Laurent Mekies is clear-sighted about Max Verstappen: "We're behind McLaren"

In a difficult situation, Max Verstappen now faces a challenge that he and his engineers have managed to overcome on more than one occasion: that of restoring the Red Bull flanked by the number 1 standing before the rest of the weekend. "With this balance, it won't be very fun," he warned. The main objective will be to try and survive and make a few adjustments before qualifying.

While the sprint race could see him lose some ground to Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, the Qatar Grand Prix remains his last chance to deny the Briton the title. Norris only needs two more points than his rivals to clinch it.