Red Bull driver Max Verstappen says a misfiring engine caused his exit from Chinese Grand Prix qualifying in the first session.
Verstappen’s RB13 picked up the engine issue during the opening segment of qualifying, and a call to weighbridge also interfered with his Q1 running.
Verstappen attempted to put a lap together but it was not good enough to move him out of the drop zone and he finished 19th, quicker only than former F3 rival Esteban Ocon.
The Dutchman will nonetheless move up two places on the grid following penalties for Romain Grosjean and Jolyon Palmer.
“It is going to be tough but I think there is rain on the way,” said Verstappen. “There was something misfiring in the engine which meant we were down on power, I tried to do a lap that could at least get me through to Q2 but the issue just wouldn’t let me.
“The guys will investigate this evening and I’m confident they can resolve it for the race. It is of course very unfortunate but these things happen and we need to move on.
“A bit of rain tomorrow will definitely help us but I think even in the wet it will be tough to challenge Ferrari and Mercedes. We need to concentrate on what we have and do the best we can.”
Red Bull team-mate Daniel Ricciardo made it through to Q3 and was fifth quickest, but finished almost nine-tenths of a second down on nearest rival Kimi Raikkonen.
“Personally, I’m happy with what I was able to get out of the car this afternoon but obviously as a team and as a driver we want more," he commented.
“I felt like up until today we still probably hadn’t got the most out of the setup but in qualifying I felt pretty comfortable with the car. I could lean on it more or less as much as I wanted but we are still missing some performance compared to Mercedes and Ferrari.
“You won’t see me looking disappointed if it rains tomorrow as the wet conditions always create more opportunities and it will be up to me to maximise those if it happens.
“We hope to have a good car in the wet; downforce plays a huge role in those conditions so we will have to wait and see. Whatever happens it will certainly be an exciting race for the spectators and we will do all we can to be on the podium.”
