Verstappen "didn’t think I would be in the fight" after tough Friday practices
Originally published by F1Technical
Max Verstappen’s Barcelona weekend has been a story of steady recovery — from a difficult Friday in which the RB20 looked unsettled and unpredictable, to a far more competitive Saturday that ultimately delivered a respectable, if slightly frustrating, fifth place on the grid.
Both Red Bull drivers reached Q3 without drama, and Verstappen even managed to bank a lap before the red flag interruption. But when the decisive final runs came, the Dutchman could not quite extract the performance he felt was available.
He ended the session with a 1:15.021, just 0.020s behind Lando Norris and only a few hundredths away from what he believed could have been a front‑row challenge. “We were quick the whole session, especially in sector one,” Verstappen said afterwards.
“Unfortunately, in the final sector on my last lap it just didn’t really come together. I was sliding a lot more than I would have liked and didn’t have much grip and we need to understand why that happened.”
The final sector — long a barometer of overall balance and tyre performance at Barcelona — proved decisive. Verstappen felt that without the unexpected loss of rear grip, a much stronger result was within reach.
“Otherwise, I think P3 would have been on the cards which, looking at our weekend so far, would have been a really good result,” he explained.
“We were still close to P3 and three and a half tenths to Pole so that is good to see. Yesterday I didn’t think I would be in the fight, so this is an improvement and much more promising.”
Red Bull’s progress through the day was clear: the car looked sharper in FP3, more responsive in the high‑speed corners, and more predictable on corner entry. Verstappen’s confidence, which had been lacking on Friday, returned enough for him to push aggressively in qualifying — even if the final execution fell just short.
Alongside him, Isack Hadjar delivered one of the standout laps of the session, beating Oscar Piastri by 0.056s and lining up sixth. For Red Bull, the tight gap between their two cars is a welcome sign that Hadjar is increasingly able to challenge Verstappen on merit, and that the team’s development direction is stabilising after a turbulent run of races.
Looking ahead to Sunday, Verstappen expects tyre degradation to be the defining factor. Barcelona’s abrasive surface and long, loaded corners have already punished drivers throughout practice, and the race is likely to demand careful management and strategic flexibility.
“This weekend has been tough on everyone’s tyres and tomorrow it will be critical to have the right strategy,” he said.