Max Verstappen rules out chance for victory at Abu Dhabi GP after Friday Practice
Max Verstappen downplayed the chances of fighting for the victory at Abu Dhabi GP amidst Red Bull's performance struggles.
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Max Verstappen (via Red Bull)
Max Verstappen has kept up with impressive performances despite massive struggles with the team. The season finale is upon the grid as the recently concluded Friday practice put forth challenges for the Dutchman. Verstappen reckoned that Red Bull emerging victorious in the final race of the season wasn’t going to be easy.
Max Verstappen participated in only Free Practice Session 2 as Red Bull junior Isack Hajdar drove the former’s chassis in the first session. The 27-year-old could only finish in P17 throughout the session as McLaren continued to top the chart. Hence, Verstappen reckoned that Red Bull could do better in terms of performance. However, regardless of working on the issues, the team cannot surpass Woking in pace at the Abu Dhabi GP.
I’m sure that we can do better. I’m not saying that we will be like McLaren level because they seem very quick so far this weekend.
Max Verstappen told Sky Sports
The Qualifying session will witness the Dutchman struggling to fight for pole in Abu Dhabi. The issues are to such an extent that Verstappen isn’t hoping for a fight for the podium. He highlighted that fighting for the top six would be a good recovery after seeing the tricky practice sessions.
But at least if we can fight in that top six that’ll be a good recovery because so far it’s been quite tricky.
Max Verstappen added
Max Verstappen berated ‘ridiculous’ understeering in Free Practice
The FP2 session was full of challenges for Max Verstappen as he couldn’t lodge any notable lap times. The Dutchman was spotted lashing out on the team radio regarding the issues in the chassis. Verstappen told his race engineer that the engine didn’t perform well during exits. Moreover, the understeering issues were ‘ridiculous’ as pointed out by Verstappen.
Mate, the engine does not pick up on exit, like just low RPM, it’s terrible. Yeah, just power. Still the understeer is ridiculous.
Max Verstappen said on the team radio
Max: "Mate, the engine does not pick up on exit, like just low RPM, it's terrible"
— Verstappen News (@verstappenews) December 6, 2024
GP: "The engine drivability low RPM, Max?"
Max: "Yeah, just power. Still the understeer is ridiculous."
The 2024 season was extremely challenging for Verstappen and Red Bull. The team lost out on the constructors’ championship during the latter half of the season due to the issues. Moreover, Sergio Perez‘s dwindling pace has opened up talks of him getting sacked ahead of 2025. Hence, Milton Keynes must work on improving the situation as soon as possible.
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Aditya Pandya
(1440 Articles Published)