Windsor: 'Mistake Verstappen symptomatic of many problems for the drivers'

According to Windsor, Mercedes did a better job than Red Bull Racing and Ferrari in qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix. The top two teams struggled to generate tyre temperature, while George Russell's team did better.

Max Verstappen's first run in Q3 of qualifying was not perfect. The Dutchman ran wide in a fast corner, making his first time only good for seventh position. In his new YouTube video, Windsor analyses the situation.

"That mistake from Max is symptomatic of many of the problems that the drivers felt today getting the tyres up to temperature. For Max just to lock up and run wide like that means that he didn’t have any feel at all in the front of the car. Potentially, he could still have gone out and got the pole at the back end of Q3, he had been quickest in Q2 and with the cooler track conditions when Max got the tyre temperatures more or less right with his outlap. Red Bull came into its own in terms of its balance and its grip."

'Verstappen was closer to the Ferrari's'

In his final run in Q3, Verstappen suffered engine problems, which prevented him from completing his fast lap. This meant the Dutchman didn't get the chance to fight for pole position. In the end, not Ferrari, but Russell ran away with the first starting position.

"It [Red Bull] doesn’t have quite as much grip level on these slow corners as the Ferrari, and just as Mercedes was putting more energy through the tyres compared to the Red Bull, Red Bull was actually putting more energy through its tyres for a while than Ferrari, so Max was definitely closer to the Ferrari’s in these conditions. When he went out and made that mistake, it was kind of all over", Windsor ends.