Max Verstappen: Why the lack of slipstream made no difference

There was little cause for celebration for Max Verstappen during qualifying on the high-speed Monza circuit. The Dutchman struggled throughout the session with a problem that made driving significantly more difficult. In the third qualifying segment, he also had the misfortune of having to manage without the slipstream assistance from his Red Bull Racing team-mate. This was because Liam Lawson failed to make it into the group competing for the top ten grid positions.

There was a simple reason for this. At the crucial moment, Oscar Piastri was in his way. The McLaren driver subsequently received a three-place grid penalty for this, from which Verstappen also benefited. As a result, the Australian dropped from third to sixth position, allowing the Red Bull Racing driver to move up to fifth place.

That was little consolation for the ambitious Dutchman, whose thwarted attempt to set a fast lap ultimately proved inconsequential. After qualifying, Verstappen explained that he had been fully occupied with whipping his GP car round the iconic circuit in the Royal Park. “When you’ve got problems like that, it’s just really hard to get the car moving,” he lamented.

“The car wasn’t behaving as it should when going over bumps and kerbs, and that simply costs lap time. I hadn’t expected to be in contention for pole, but in the third practice session it was still really pleasant to drive. That was really nice, but unfortunately this problem with the rear axle then cropped up,” the 28-year-old went on to explain.

And Verstappen described: “We made good progress overnight; the car was in a much better working window in the third practice session, but then I had the feeling that something wasn’t quite right. It wasn’t the rear wing, but something mechanical; we’ll have to look into that more closely. This isn’t the first time something like this has happened to us; it kept cropping up throughout the weekend. And, unfortunately, at the most crucial moment too.”

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