“We have completely lost Friday” : Max Verstappen blames rusty practice session for qualifying setback

Max Verstappen

Miami Grand Prix has been quite upsetting for reigning World Champion Max Verstappen who desperately needs to close the gap between himself and Championship leader Charles Leclerc. After the incredible performance that the Red Bull team showed in Imola, in rival team Ferrari’s home country Italy, fans were sure that Verstappen’s team is back in the race, with an upgraded car, and good strategies. But then came Miami Grand Prix, and all the Red Bull fans were in despair yet again.

On a scorching day in Miami where the temperatures hit 35 degree celsius, Max Verstappen did a great job at preserving his tyres and putting enough speed to maintain his position at the top of the grid. The reigning World Champion has already won two races in the all-new season of Formula 1, but he is still 29 points behind 27 points behind the current Championship leader Charles Leclerc. To narrow the gap, the Dutchman needed a spotless Qualifying at Miami today, but sadly, he did not get that.

https://youtu.be/AkSqYxWAZwo

In the second free practice session in Miami, Max Verstappen could not put in enough laps to test his car on the new track because his rear brakes had overheated. In a fit of frustration, the Red Bull driver had shouted into the team radio, saying that he could not even steer his RB-18. Fans were afraid Red Bull’s reliability issues were back to trouble Verstappen, but they were happy to see his form in the Qualifying. But even then, Verstappen could not achieve a pole position at Saturday’s Qualifying.

Max Verstappen claimed his free practice session was cut short due to the reliability issues with his RB-18

Free practices are important for judging the speed and overall performance of a car in a new circuit. In case of Miami, which has never hosted an F1 race before, the circuit is new to all the drivers as noone has ever raced here with their cars and needed Friday to get used to the technicalities of the Miami International Autodrome. But, sadly, Verstappen’s free practice session was cut short due to his rear wings being too heated, and thus the Dutchman never got enough practice before going into the Qualifying on Saturday.

Reacting to his lost pole position on Saturday, Max Verstappen said, “We cannot afford weekends like the one we have had, in which we are very limited in the possibility of shooting on Fridays and then expect miracles today, because they don’t happen.”

He continued, “On a track like this, which is so new, you need rhythm, laps, to understand the car and we have completely lost Friday. Everyone knows this, but we shouldn’t have underestimated, especially with these new machines, how much this can create problems. I mean, I can compensate a part, but I’m not Jesus “.

Tags: Max Verstappen

#About the Author

Riddhi Mondal

(1821 Articles Published)

Riddhi Mondal is an F1 author at FirstSportz. Now that she has served as an F1 reporter for 3 years, she believes her love all things F1 started back in 2019. Riddhi has proudly written almost 1500 articles on FirstSportz that have garnered thousands of views too. She is a proud McLaren fan who eagerly awaits the paddock's visit to Spa Francorchamps and hopes to attend the Monaco GP one day. A student of medicine, whenever she's not fawning over Daniel Ricciardo or rooting for Max Verstappen to become the next World Champion, Riddhi's either busy reading thrillers, debating, or playing with her six feline friends.

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