Max Verstappen admits he didn’t expect Singapore GP Qualifying to be ‘that bad’ after being knocked out in Q2

Max Verstappen acknowledged that it will be a tough race for Red Bull at the Marina Bay Circuit.

Max Verstappen admits he didn’t expect Singapore GP Qualifying to be ‘that bad’ after being knocked out in Q2

Max Verstappen (via IMAGO)

Max Verstappen was the favorite for the Singapore GP. However, things have changed quite quickly. The two-time world champion struggled with the Red Bull RB-19 throughout Friday and now he has failed to make it to the Top 10 for the first time this season. Now, Verstappen has admitted that it was a tough outing for the Austrian team.

The Dutch driver acknowledged that Qualifying was going to be a challenging affair for Red Bull this weekend. However, Verstappen did not expect to get knocked out of Qualifying altogether in Q2. The two-time world champion revealed that the team had made changes on Saturday. He said, as reported by Junaid Samodien, “I knew it would be tough to put it on pole. But didn’t expect it to be that bad. Then the car felt better in FP3, and we made some changes.”

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The Red Bull driver believed that Sunday’s race would be even more difficult as he starts P11 with teammate Sergio Perez starting from P13. However, Max Verstappen was adamant on understanding why he could not make his way into the Top 10 Qualifying shootout. The 25-year-old stated, “It will be a long tough afternoon. Hopefully, it’s a quick race. For me, it will be important to find out why it went wrong.”

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Also Read: “That was fu**ing shocking,” Max Verstappen goes on a furious rant after his Q2 exit during Singapore qualifying

Max Verstappen fails to make it to Q3 for the first time in 2023

Verstappen has dominated Formula 1 this season with a total of 12 victories so far. The Dutch driver even has a ten-race-win streak heading into the Singapore GP weekend. However, it seems that maintaining this streak might pose a challenge to the reigning world champion as he starts from outside the Top 10 for the first time in 2023.

Max Verstappen in the pits during the Singapore GP weekend
Max Verstappen in the pits during the Singapore GP weekend (Credits: @RedBullRacing/Twitter)

Red Bull have been caught off-guard at the Marina Bay Circuit. The Milton Keynes-based team seems to have no answer to rivals on this track despite enjoying a massive advantage till the last race in Italy. As such, the situation appears to be grim for Max Verstappen and Perez as they try and salvage some points for the team on Sunday.

It seems that Red Bull might finally face defeat in the 2023 F1 season. Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez will face immense pressure during the Singapore GP. The two drivers will need to make their way through the pack. However, the Singapore GP appears to be the first race where the Milton Keynes-based team is struggling to match its rivals.

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