The Dutchman failed to capture pole position, qualifying third behind both McLaren drivers.
Max Verstappen is unsure whether he will be able to contend with McLaren, having qualified third behind both drivers.Verstappen believes he cannot overcome McLaren in Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix. Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri secured a front-row lockout.
On Saturday, the incumbent world champion qualified third around the Hungaroring, trailing Norris by barely 0.046 seconds.
Verstappen will also be the sole Red Bull car at the head of the grid. His teammate Sergio Perez crashed out of qualifying, finishing 16th. The Mexican is under intense pressure to deliver before the summer vacation.
Verstappen is unsure what is possible.
Verstappen won convincingly around the Hungaroring the previous season, beating Norris by 33 seconds. However, a year later, the Dutch driver is unsure how to beat the McLarens in Sunday’s race.
“Errr… “I don’t know at the moment,” the Dutchman stated during the post-qualifying press conference.
“So, what can I do? We will do our best to maintain a decent, stable balance with the car. If I discover them, I can follow them. But I do not know.
“To be honest, my long runs [in practice] have been okay, but nothing spectacular or special.
The three-time world champion’s expectations are low to avoid “spreading false hope”:
Verstappen left unsatisfied despite upgrades.
Red Bull brought its biggest upgrade of the season to Budapest. However, the upgraded components were still insufficient to outperform the McLarens on a high-downforce circuit.
Despite the new enhancements, the Red Bull driver believes they worked and is disappointed that he was unable to defeat the McLaren.
“We’re still not first, right?” He added. “We need more. It’s that simple.
“Looking back on qualifying, I was pretty pleased with my lap times, but everything is very close to the edge. I’m pushing as hard as I can, and you’ll have tiny moments here and there.”
Verstappen thinks he’ll “probably push harder” than he did last year, resulting in
Not securing pole position. Following qualifying, the Dutch driver smacked his steering wheel in disgust.
The Dutchman did not take to the track in the closing few minutes due to a lack of new soft tyres. The Red Bull driver felt he “was never going to improve” on old tyres.
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