Max Verstappen says it will be a “bit of a stretch” to win the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on Sunday after suffering a shock Q2 exit during qualifying.
The Dutchman, who dominated the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix two weeks ago, was on a hot lap when he reported an issue with the engine.
Verstappen says that a broken driveshaft resulted in his early retirement from the session.
“In Turn 10 the driveshaft just broke, so that’s really unfortunate,” he said. “And, also, something I don’t really understand, because we never had any issues with that so far this year.
“But it did happen and we’ll analyse everything and try to understand how that happen.
“I think it shouldn’t matter if the car is really quick or not, you should always be, let’s say, as disappointed or upset when things go wrong and we have to make sure that these things don’t happen again.
“It doesn’t matter if you up front or last, you always want a car that is reliable.”
Verstappen is set to start the race from 15th on the grid but will have a strong package underneath him to move forward.
However, he has conceded that his starting position will leave him unlikely to be in contention for victory.
“The car has been quick all weekend,” he said. “Also, every time I went out the car has been working really well, I felt comfortable, so I’m sure we can move forward.
“I do think that trying to win the race is a bit of a stretch, because of the management that needs to happen on the tyres, and everyone just seems to drive to a certain pace.
“We’ll try to recover as much as we can and I know it’s a long season, so a lot of things can happen.”
Red Bull has possessed the strongest package throughout the entire race weekend in Jeddah, with Verstappen looking comfortable heading into the qualifying session.
Team-mate Sergio Perez ended the day on pole position, putting the Mexican driver in a prime position for the grand prix win.
“For sure, for the team as well it’s important that he’s up there, so for sure we have a good chance with Checo tomorrow to drive off,” Verstappen commented.
“If everything works well on the first lap, I think we can move quite far forward, but we have to wait and see how far we can reach.”
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