Grip on the RB18 not optimal: 'Verstappen destroyed tyres in sector 3'

Max Verstappen is not in pole position for the United States Grand Prix. Carlos Sainz was the fastest man in Austin. Peter Windsor explains where the Dutchman lost a lot of time in qualifying. The RB18 did not perform optimally.

"Verstappen had the understeer drama yesterday but they seemed to have solved that," Windsor started in his new YouTube video. The Dutchman was not entirely satisfied in FP1. In qualifying, however, there was another problem, namely with warming up the tyres.

Red Bull Racing gave Verstappen a different strategy by sending him out early and letting him do two warm-up laps. That way, the team wanted to see if he could still get the temperature in his tyres. The rest of the field went for just one warm-up lap.

"Too much grip, too much downforce. With the amount of wing they were running, they could afford to give away some top speed. The grip they had in sector one was destroying the tyres in sector three," Windsor explained. Ferrari was incredibly fast in the first sector, so Verstappen did well there.

According to Windsor, Red Bull's strategy worked well with two warm-up laps, but in the end Verstappen still lost too much time. "That's where he lost what could've been potentially pole position. He's not that worried, still on the front-row albeit on the dirty side of the grid," he added.