Max Verstappen felt qualifying for the 2022 F1 Bahrain GP was a 'hit and miss' for his Red Bull team after the Dutchman secured P2 behind Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.
The defending champion was asked to share his thoughts shortly after qualifying in parc fermé by former F1 driver David Coulthard. Verstappen said:
“Well, it’s a bit difficult to tell. I think it was a bit of a hit and miss. Q2 seemed quite good then Q3 was a bit more of a struggle to get the balance together. But nevertheless, I think it was alright. We have a good car, a good race car as well, and at the end of the day that is most important. It was a good day overall. It was a good start.”
Verstappen could only manage a 1:30.681 in Q3 and was eclipsed by the Monegasque Leclerc, who put in a time of 1:30.558 in his Ferrari F1-75.
Red Bull are in a good place after pre-season testing, according to Max Verstappen
Reigning world champion Max Verstappen believes Red Bull are in a good position after pre-season testing in Barcelona and Bahrain.
During an interview ahead of the race weekend at the Sakhir Circuit, the Dutchman said:
“We learnt a lot at testing in Barcelona and Bahrain, I’m very excited to turn our attention to racing now, it’s a whole new era for the sport and anything can happen. The focus is to bring the grid together and make it easier to follow, I hope we see that in the first race. Everything is so new so there are a lot of unknowns heading into the first race of the season. I’m looking forward to seeing where we are compared to the rest of the grid come qualifying on Saturday.”
The 24-year-old went on to add, saying:
“The car looks good and as a team, we are in a good place. The most important thing for us in Bahrain is to have a stable weekend without too many issues and we hope to score a good amount of points.”
Verstappen will start Sunday's 2022 F1 Bahrain GP on the front row in P2, in Ferrari sandwich with Charles Leclerc on pole and Carlos Sainz on P3.