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Helmut Marko points to the soft tire as Verstappen’s issue - Photo: Red Bull Content Pool

Max Verstappen and Helmut Marko have doubts about the RB21’s speed - Photo: Red Bull Content Pool

Marko identifies Verstappen's problem during Sprint Qualifying

21:23, 28 Nov

byTim Kraaij

Helmut Marko explained what was Max Verstappen's issue during sprint qualifying in Qatar. Whether Red Bull Racing can solve the problem this weekend remains to be seen.

“The changes we made clearly didn’t solve the problem”

- Helmut Marko

Verstappen finished sixth in sprint qualifying in Qatar, after a session that didn’t go smoothly at all for the Dutchman. In SQ1 and SQ2, Verstappen was competitive, but on the soft tyre in SQ3, just like in free practice, it simply didn’t come together.

“It’s the soft tyre,” Marko said after the session to GPblog.“I mean on the medium tyre we were competitive. And similar to P1 on the hard tyre, we were also competitive. The changes we did obviously didn't cure our problem on the soft tyre.”

“They were better on Yuki's car. Yuki gained one tenth in the first corner. I mean, the change is mainly, Max wanted more front-end, Yuki more rear-end. And that was a better solution.”

“But fortunately, it's only the Sprint, and for tomorrow (Saturday) we have to sort out our weakness on the soft tyre.”

Verstappen's issues in Qatar

Asked whether Verstappen had no bouncing at all on the mediums, Marko said: “No.”

So the problem is likely not in the ride height, as was the case in Mexico. “No, but we didn't have bouncing on the medium tyre. So the ride height stayed for both tyre, of course. We have to find the reason why it happened."

The soft tyre will possibly hardly used or not at all during the Sprint and the Grand Prix. Asked if Marko thinks Red Bull can be competitive in those sessions, the top advisor said: “I think we will be more competitive, but overtaking is really difficult here.”

Verstappen was not satisfied with his RB21 in Qatar - Photo: Red Bull Content Pool

So it will have to be a typical Red Bull weekend again, having to extract a lot more from the car from Friday to Saturday and from Saturday to Sunday. The big advantage the team has is that the gaps are small, so Marko remains hopeful.

“Yeah, and I think the field is so close together and they are so different. It's Mercedes, it's Alonso still. I think a lot can happen.”

When asked again whether Verstappen’s bouncing issue could be solved, Marko concluded: “We hope we can solve it.”

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