Max Verstappen aimed a cheeky jab at Formula 1 rival George Russell following an incident during qualifying at the Dutch Grand Prix. The four-time world champion predicted Russell would complain after he emerged from the pit lane narrowly ahead of the Mercedes driver.
"We'll probably have George crying on the radio about the pit release, but it was nothing unsafe," Verstappen quipped to his Red Bull race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase.
However, Verstappen's prediction was wrong as Russell did not appear to respond to the incident, at least on the broadcast radio messages. Russell had the last laugh by securing second on the grid, narrowly beaten to pole by Lando Norris of McLaren.
Verstappen qualified seventh, one spot ahead of teammate Liam Lawson, who is standing in for the injured Isack Hadjar, at his home race in Zandvoort.
Red Bull Changes 'Made No Difference'
Verstappen worryingly admitted that set-up changes made by Red Bull between the sprint and qualifying made little difference to the performance and handling of his RB22. "We changed quite a bit, and it didn't make a difference," he told Sky Sports F1.
"The balance was pretty much the same as what I had all weekend, so it didn't really allow me to push or feel comfortable with the car. So that's the position you're in," he added.
Asked if Red Bull can change something for the race, Verstappen replied: "I don't know. Difficult to say at the moment when you are just lacking pace. We just need to try and do our own race and see if it's positive or not."
Verstappen acknowledged that if improvements cannot be found, he is braced to be "completely alone" during Sunday's race. "For sure, this is not our best layout, but we just need to work on it tomorrow. It might be a little bit better, but we need to try and just dial it out," he said.
Baca Juga
Lewis Hamilton mengaku jauh lebih bahagia dengan Ferrari setelah finis P5 di kualifikasi GP Belanda, sementara Charles Leclerc turun ke P6 karena kesalahan mode tenaga. Simak analisis lengkapnya.
Pole position Lando Norris di GP Belanda menyembunyikan masalah McLaren di tikungan lambat. Ferrari justru makin terpuruk di kualifikasi.
Ferrari start dari posisi kelima dan keenam di GP Belanda. Meski terkendala pemanasan ban dan tenaga, upgrade lantai SF26 terbukti meningkatkan keseimbangan. Simak analisis lengkapnya.
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