Max Verstappen had to deal with significant issues in Bahrain, he explained after qualifying. According to the Dutchman, the team could not find a solution so far.
The defending world champion qualified only in P7 for the Bahrain Grand Prix, after he claimed pole position a week ago at the Suzuka Circuit.
"Just a whole weekend struggling a bit with that, brakes, feeling and stopping power and besides that also just very poor grip," Verstappen began to GPblog among others in the paddock after today's final session.
"We tried a lot on the setup and basically all of it didn't work, it didn't give us a clear direction to work in. So just overall a difficult weekend so far," he continued.
Verstappen also had to do his final lap in Q1 under pressure. The Dutchman a mistake in the final corner on his first run, therefore, he had no time entering his one and only lap.
"Yes, it happens. I mean, it's of course not what you want, also to use an extra set, but with the problems that we had, you have to do that."
Contrast between Japan and Bahrain is significant
Asked about how the car's performance could be so different just a week after he claimed his first victory of the season, the Dutchman said: "I mean in Japan it wasn't good as well, but here you just get punished a bit harder when you have bigger balance issues, because the tarmac is so aggressive and the wind is also quite high and the track has quite low grip so everything is highlighted more."
This article was written in collaboration with Kimberley Hoefnagel
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