Verstappen not getting down despite Canada Q2 exit

Max Verstappen says he was still upbeat, despite a shock Q2 elimination in qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix. Verstappen was unable to improve his lap time as Kevin Magnussen crashed on the main straight and brought out the red flag.

Red Bull tried to sneak Verstappen through Q2 on the medium compound in an attempt to match Mercedes and Ferrari's strategy.

However, heavy traffic on both his attempted laps hampered Verstappen, who had to get it done with one final lap on soft tyres to make the top-10 shootout.

Verstappen set personal bests in sectors one and two, but he was unable to finish the lap as Magnussen had already demolished his Haas.

We were just very unlucky with the red flag in qualifying. That’s how it goes sometimes. It means I’ll have a bit more work to do tomorrow. I will give it my all to have a good race and gain a few positions #KeepPushing #CanadianGP ?? pic.twitter.com/TbiAgWrCQk

— Max Verstappen (@Max33Verstappen) June 8, 2019

"I'm not down, it just happens in Formula 1," Verstappen told Sky Sports. "We tried the medium tyre. The tyre didn't feel fantastic for us but then also we had traffic which didn't help. So then we went onto the soft tyre, but we got the red flag. So, yeah, very unlucky."

Verstappen could well start ninth, with Carlos Sainz possibly facing a grid penalty and Kevin Magnussen likely to start in the pit lane as his car needs to be rebuilt.

The Dutchman will also have free choice of tyres, but he is not expecting a crazy recovery drive.

"I don't know… we are not really on pace with Ferrari and Mercedes so it will be anyway tricky to fight them tomorrow," he said.

"It's still not what we want to start is it so we'll find out tomorrow how it's going to go."

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