Four-time world champion Max Verstappen expressed frustration after qualifying a lowly 11th for the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, describing his Red Bull car as "undriveable". The Dutch driver, who has won at Suzuka for the past four years, was eliminated in Q2, compounding a difficult start to the Formula One season that has seen him struggle with consistency and performance issues.

In an interview with Sky Sports F1, Verstappen detailed the car's problems, stating, "The car never turns mid-corner, but at the same time this weekend, it's just oversteering a lot on entry. It's really difficult, unpredictable." He added, "We thought we'd fixed it a little bit in FP3 (third practice), I mean there was still a lot of understeer in the car, but now in qualifying for me it was again undriveable, so that's something that we need to look at."

Verstappen, who crashed out in Q3 at the season opener in Australia and retired from the Chinese Grand Prix two weeks ago, noted that the team has issues he cannot explain in detail. He emphasized that in qualifying, the car reached a point where it became undriveable, raising concerns about his prospects for Sunday's race and highlighting ongoing challenges with new regulations that split power between conventional and electrical sources.

Qualifying saw Mercedes' 19-year-old Italian driver Kimi Antonelli secure pole position, marking his second consecutive pole after China. His teammate George Russell, the early championship leader, qualified second, 0.298 seconds behind. Antonelli described it as "a really clean session" but acknowledged work is needed on energy management at big tracks. Russell admitted to struggling with his car for most of qualifying, calling it "not ideal" ahead of the race.

Mercedes, with one-two finishes in both grands prix so far this season, continued their dominant form in dry conditions at Suzuka. These results underscore the shifting competitive landscape in Formula One, where veteran drivers like Verstappen face mounting difficulties amid regulatory changes, while younger talents like Antonelli rise to prominence, setting the stage for an unpredictable race weekend.

Source: www.aljazeera.com