- Red Bull driver Max Verstappen is unhappy with his team after finishing second
- Verstappen urged his team to put in extra effort to ensure increased dependability
- He experienced drivetrain issues which saw him finish second
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen is unhappy with his team after finishing second at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix held in Jeddah.
Verstappen urged his team to put in extra effort to ensure increased dependability and trouble-free weekends.
He finished just five seconds behind Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez who finished first in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix after qualifying in 15th place on the grid.
After practice, Verstappen appeared to be in a position to rule the weekend after dominating all three sessions. However, a driveshaft issue with his RB19 in Q2 forced him to start last.
After weaving his way through the pack in the early going, Verstappen’s mission of returning to the podium eased up courtesy of a Safety Car intervention in the middle of the race.
But, Perez held strong with a five-second lead until the checkered flag.
Max Verstappen set record at the Mexico City GP. Photo/ WION.
Verstappen expressed his dissatisfaction with having two straight race weekends that haven’t gone smoothly on his side of the garage.
This is despite leading the championship by a single point coming out of Saudi Arabia. According to Verstappen, the speed of his car isn’t the only thing he is worried about, but a car in a good state too.
“It’s not only about the pace of the car, we need to make sure that we are reliable without any issues. I mean, my first weekend was not very clean because of the big balance shift from testing to the race weekend, and some other things which were going on in the background,” he told the media in Jeddah.
The Dutch driver maintained that though his overall team performance is good and his team members are happy about it, he isn’t happy on a personal level.
He said that he is not ready for second place which is why Red Bull Oracle team must ensure that the cars are absolutely reliable.
Max Verstappen has 7 F1 Penalty Points race ban. Photo/Express UK]
“But, personally, I’m not happy. Because I’m not here to be second, especially when you are working very hard, also back at the factory to make sure that you arrive here in a good state and making sure that everything is spot on. But when you’re fighting for a championship, especially when it looks like it’s just between two cars – we have to make sure that also the two cars are reliable,” he said.
With 10 circuits remaining in the race, an apparent problem with Verstappen’s car caused him considerable stress.
His team responded that they had no cause for concern with the car after Verstappen radioed in informing them of issues with his drivetrain.
Yet, he had noticed high vibration on the drive rear drive shaft which his team wasn’t aware of. His realized that he couldn’t make his fastest lap with the vibration so he settled for second place to avoid further issues with his car.
Perez quite the day in Jeddah as he put his skills on the laps sped to wade off Verstappen.
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