Max Verstappen

Mixed feelings for Verstappen after finishing fifth in Bahrain qualifying

Red Bull could have showed more.

Martin Macdonald

Saturday 30 March 2019 18:47

Max Verstappen claims that he is happy with the Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying result of fifth place due to the troubles Red Bull has had over the weekend, but ultimately believes that the team need to be showing a lot more of what they are capable of.

While Ferrari displayed outstanding speed to claim pole through Charles Leclerc, Red Bull went through the motions in qualifying and never looked likely to pose a threat to the Scuderia or Mercedes.

Hamilton says Ferrari out of Mercedes' reach in BahrainRead more

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However, Verstappen has revealed details of some of the issues the team had, which means that he has contrasting emotions heading into the race on Sunday.

“Already the expectations going in were mixed because I didn't really know where we were, because I was always struggling a bit with car balance, not being happy with the car, and that happened again in qualifying,” the Dutchman told Sky Sports.

“Yeah, it was definitely not the most ideal set-up we could have in qualifying, which is sliding around a lot but we made the best of it and, in a way, I'm happy to be fifth but we cannot be happy with what we showed today."

When asked whether he reckons Red Bull could compete with Ferrari and Mercedes in the grand prix, he responded by saying that the utilisation of the medium tyre for a longer period instead of the soft could play a big part.

“We couldn't switch on the soft tyre the whole weekend, so I hope that in the race with a medium tyre we can be more competitive,” he added.

Leclerc will start the race in pole position, the first of his career, while Vettel is in second and the two Mercedes’ of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas are in row two.