Max Verstappen was not happy as he qualified sixth for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and has to start on the less durable hypersoft tyre.
The Dutchman was in the knockout zone in Q2 before a late lap in the session took him into the final part of qualifying but he needed to set it on the hypersoft, unlike his Aston Martin Red Bull Racing team-mate Daniel Ricciardo.
Verstappen struggled with tyre temperatures throughout the session and says that’s the reason he aborted his final lap in Q3.
“I’m not overly happy with how qualifying went today.
“After the first run in Q3 I knew we needed to get the tyre temperatures down in order to improve the grip.
“We tried this for my final run but unfortunately they were still too high, this meant I aborted my flying lap as I was just sliding everywhere, especially in the final sector.
“The car balance wasn’t quite as good as it has been in previous qualifying sessions, I wasn’t able to get what I wanted out of the lap.”
Verstappen is the only one of the top six to be starting on the hypersoft and he feels he will need “a bit of luck” if he is to be on the podium this weekend.
“Starting on hypersofts wasn’t the original plan but it could be interesting, being on a different compound to some of the others could prove helpful.
“Overtaking is a bit tricky around here, definitely not as straight forward as Brazil.
“It will take strategy and a bit of luck to be on top tomorrow.
“Our race pace once again looks good, so I’ll do my best to get on the podium.”
