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Verstappen “annoyed with myself” after Miami F1 qualifying mistake

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Verstappen, who led Q1 and Q2, had to stop for a first round error in Q3.

That leaves him in ninth, a position he could remain in if the red flag interrupts his second attempt, which is exactly what happened after Charles Leclerc crashed his Ferrari.

Despite his apparent frustration – exacerbated by the fact that Red Bull team-mate and title rival Sergio Perez was on pole – Verstappen tried to remain optimistic, saying he wanted to get back to “minimum P2”.

“It’s unfortunate, of course,” he said when asked about the third quarter. “But first of all, of course, we didn’t do a lap. That was my fault. But, yeah, it was very tricky.

“I was a little off the line in sixty-seven and I felt a little understeer and I just couldn’t get it right. So I dropped my knee.

“Of course, you need a little bit of luck and hope that the red flags don’t come up. But, of course, when you try to think that way, it happens. So, it’s kind of frustrating.

“I mean we were very fast all weekend, my Q2 lap was quick enough even to be on pole in Q3.

“So, I guess it’s saying that we have a very fast car. But you need to put it all together, and where it matters, we don’t. That’s a little frustrating for me.”

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB19

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB19

Photography: Steven Tee / motorsport pictures

He added: “I’m still annoyed with myself, but I also know that tomorrow is a new day and a lot can happen.

“It’s not ideal, but there’s no need to be super angry or upset about it now. But you learn from it. You’ll do better next time.”

Asked if he could have tried a second-lap banker in his first set, or knocked out early in his second, he admitted the team could have done things differently.

“We could have looked in hindsight and, yes, we could have gone out earlier as well,” he noted. “But at the end of the day, I made a mistake. We certainly didn’t intend for me to make a mistake.

“Of course, you say, ‘Okay, let’s go early so we can get going.’ I’m still way ahead of those cars. But you don’t expect a car to stall right away either. That It’s a street circuit and these things happen.”

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Verstappen admitted that, unfortunately, the red flag was raised during the session in which he did not complete the bank lap.

“That’s why it’s just a little bit frustrating. I know it’s easy to do. I mean, we’re all at our limit, and one tiny mistake can knock you out instantly. That’s what happened to me today. But you still always want to try to be perfect, right? And that’s not good.”

Verstappen stressed he will not let the disappointment of qualifying affect him.

“I know I’m not going to win a title tomorrow,” he said. “And I’ve been in that position before. Sometimes you get a little bit of a setback, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to be the rest of the year or whatever.

“I mean, it can’t all be perfect. You hope it’s going to be perfect. I think last year, we had a tough start, but you still have to make some improvements yourself. It wasn’t perfect today.”

Asked what he hoped to achieve in Sunday’s race, he replied: “P2 minimum.”

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Explained: Ferrari's ambitious upgrades for the SF-23 in Barcelona

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At the Spanish Grand Prix, F1 entered a dedicated permanent track for the first time since the season opener in Bahrain. Due to the nature of the Circuit de Catalunya, teams usually implement a lot of upgrade packages on their cars, as it is well known that if a team performs well in Barcelona, ​​they stand a good chance of doing well for most of the remainder of the calendar. repertoire.

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F1 drivers fear unintended consequences of Barcelona track changes

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For the first time since 2006, the championship will do away with the oft-maligned slow 14-15 left-right corner and will revert to two high-speed open right-hand corners to complete a lap.

This has increased the top speed of the final corner to 170mph and is intended to allow drivers to follow the main straight more closely into the slipstream and overtake.

While single-car racing got rave reviews from drivers for the changes to improve lap speed during Friday’s practice session, they don’t think the tweaks will help the pass as envisioned.

With the Pirelli tires’ lack of overtaking so far in 2023 due in part to overheating rather than degradation, AlphaTauri driver Nyck de Vries believes that will again be a major factor this weekend.

He said: “Let’s not jump to conclusions, but obviously the main reason for the change was for a better game.

“I’m not sure if it’s going to give us a better game…the left forward has suffered a lot.

Insight: What we learned from Friday’s practice for the F1 2023 Spanish GP

“It’s a tough job at the front. You can feel it now, on long distances, when you’re behind other cars it’s hard to keep up.

“Now there’s a lot of focus on the front axle, whereas before, there was a little bit of both…they did (change) for the right purpose, let’s put it that way.”

Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo Racing

Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo Racing

Photography: Alfa Romeo

De Vries reckons it’s possible to advance two laps before “you end up paying the price” because of so much tire wear.

Drivers also mentioned the 2023 car, fueling concerns that the revised Barcelona lap would not lead to an increase in overtaking.

While the switch to ground effect is intended to help the car follow more closely, winter developments increase levels of dirty air. Drivers commented that this season was significantly harder to keep up with than the previous one.

Alfa Romeo driver Valtteri Bottas told Autosport: “The faster the more fun. (But the level of overtaking) will be the same. The last corner is hard to follow.

“It’s just faster, but I don’t think it will improve overtaking. It’s a bit bumpy over there.

“So, there’s a little bit of movement, which makes it more challenging, but it’s a cool corner. It’s superfast. Definitely more challenging, but also for the tyres.

“It felt like the tires were traveling a lot in those two corners.”

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Windsor: 'Bad news for competition that Verstappen is SO relaxed'

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Max Verstappen was the fastest driver on the track at all hours of Friday’s Spanish Grand Prix. The fact that the Red Bull driver also had time to listen to Helmut Marko’s call on the radio should cause concern for the race, according to Peter Windsor.

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