Max Verstappen was left disenchanted by the performance of his Red Bull in qualifying at the Bahrain Grand Prix.
The Dutchman finished just 0.005s clear of the midfield pack and almost 0.9s off pole in the RB15, this after a last-gasp effort at the end of Q3.
While most of the attention may centre on the Honda engine, it appears the biggest issue continues to be an inability to extract grip from the Pirelli C3 tyre.
“Qualifying was very difficult. I am glad that I am starting from fifth position because it could have been much worse,” Verstappen admitted in the paddock.
“Beforehand I did not know what to expect from qualifying, because I did not know where we were at.
"I already struggled the whole weekend with the balance of my car and I am still not happy with it, that was the same in qualifying.
“We have tried all kinds of things, but did not find a solution. We have done the best we could, but we cannot be satisfied with what we have shown today.”
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Red Bull should be more competitive for the race based on the long run on Friday, but mostly depends on which tyre is the dominant one on Sunday.
“We will see tomorrow how the car responds," Max said. “We cannot get the soft tyres to work this weekend, so I hope that the medium compound is more competitive.”
