Saudi Arabian GP: Max Verstappen reveals qualifying struggles that led to P4 finish

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen has revealed issues with tyres in qualifying meant that he could only finish 4th-fastest on Saturday in Saudi Arabia.

The second edition of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix takes place tomorrow afternoon and Sergio Perez will lead the field away, after putting in a stunning lap towards the end of qualifying.

It’s the first time the Mexican will do so in his F1 career, and the first time a Mexican will do so in the sport’s history, so it was a momentous day for that side of the Red Bull garage.

On the other, though, Max could not hook things up how he would have wanted in the final stages, and he has revealed how tyres were the main issue for him, with him set to line up in P4 on Sunday.

He said to Sky:

“It wasn’t an amazing Q3. In Q1 and Q2 everything was looking quite well but my first [tyre] set in Q3 was terrible, like a completely different feeling with the tyres, they were just moving around a lot more and it was really difficult for me to drive.

“When you have that bad of a build-up and you go onto your second set of tyres that impacts that and I just didn’t really feel comfortable. I couldn’t really extract like I did in Q1 and Q2 and on a track where the temperatures are coming down you should improve but I felt flat so it’s something we need to look into.”

A frustrating day in the end for Max, but he’ll be happy for Checo and looking forward to once again battling Ferrari, with Charles Leclerc in second and Carlos Sainz sat in third.