Groaning Verstappen fears world title slipping away: 'Can go fast'

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Max Verstappen fears for his fourth world title after qualifying in Monza
31 August at 17:49
  • Sandy van Wijngaarden

Qualifying in Monza ended in drama for Max Verstappen. In the first two parts, the Red Bull still seemed competitive, but in Q3 the Dutchman could not do anything with it at all. He reacted resignedly after the session and sees the race as bleak.

In a media moment with GPblog and others, Verstappen responded when asked if he expects to fight for victory on Sunday. "Normally not," the Dutchman replied. "We are already too slow."

The Dutchman does not feel good in his car. "The long runs, they might look good on paper, but it didn't really feel like that personally. The problem is that when you don't have a balanced car, of course in the race that is quite painful on tyres also, so let's see."

With the new asphalt on the track, there are still uncertainties for the race. "Maybe with how the car is at the moment it might be a little bit better for the race, but we're also starting in the back of let's say the top group. So we just have to wait and see what happens in front of us. There are a few unknowns with the graining actually as well. Yeah, we'll find out tomorrow."

Verstappen fears for the championship

Currently, Verstappen has a seventy-point lead in the championship. The starting positions in Monza are not going to contribute positively to this. "Will go down hard if it continues like this," Verstappen said. The Dutchman recognises that things can go hard now. "I've always said that too."

This article has been created in collaboration with Matt Gretton

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