Race before Japan unsuccessful again for Verstappen: 'Not ideal'

For the third year in a row, the race ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix on the calendar did not go great for Max Verstappen. However, the past two years in Japan have gone well for the Dutchman. At Suzuka, Verstappen was asked about how much confidence he has this year.

Race for Japan another stumbling block for Verstappen and Red Bull

The race before the Japanese Grand Prix, it has been a problem for Verstappen in recent years. In 2022, the Red Bull driver saw his teammate win in Singapore as he failed to bounce back from a disappointing qualifying session on Saturday. Overall, things did not go well for Red Bull Racing in 2023. Carlos Sainz won the Grand Prix and Verstappen finished only fifth.

This year's race before Japan did not take place in Singapore, but in Australia. Still, Verstappen was disappointed again, due to a DNF on Lap 3. Sainz also won this race as he did in Singapore.

Verstappen says: "Every year is different, but also last year we had a bit of a difficult weekend in Singapore. I think if you look at Melbourne performance-wise, I think we're quick, but we didn't finish the race, so that that's not ideal. But our car normally likes the higher speed corners, so hopefully that we can show that again this weekend."