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Max Verstappen was left visibly frustrated after being shocked by the “bizarre behaviour” of his RB20 that see’s him line up for Sunday’s race from P7 on the grid.
Despite finishing second last time out at his home race in Zandvoort, Verstappen found himself over 20 seconds behind his championship rival in Lando Norris.
Recent races have proved challenging for Red Bull, with the RB20 encountering some issues and struggling in comparison to their closest competition.
Therefore, this has meant that a title fight has emerged in both the Drivers and Constructors’ Championship. Moreover, McLaren have closed the gap down to just 30 points on the Milton Keynes team, with Norris now only 70 points behind Verstappen with nine races to go.
Coming into round 16 at Monza, Red Bull are looking to change their recent downturn in form around. However, qualifying proved that the Austrian outfit are continuing to lose ground on those around them after only managing a P7 and P8 result.
Verstappen confused by his RB20
Speaking to Viaplay after the session, as reported by racingnews365.com, Verstappen labelled his problematic car as “bizarre.”
“In Q3, somehow it didn’t turn. We had two new sets of tyres and suddenly I had a lot of understeer,” stated Verstappen.
“The car just wasn’t turning anywhere anymore in Turns 1, 4, 6 and 7. I just couldn’t get the car turning anymore.”
“It’s been going on all the time, it’s over and understeer, both actually a little bit. It’s very tricky.”
“I was almost four-tenths slower than my run in Q2. It’s bizarre how that’s possible. The balance was suddenly not there at all.”
“In Q2 it was still reasonable but it felt a little better, but in Q3 there was suddenly a lot of understeer and nothing worked anymore.”
Verstappen on the back foot
After Norris claimed back-to-back pole positions, Verstappen stated that he will try his best for tomorrow’s grand prix as he finds himself on the back foot.
“We all have ourselves to thank for that,” he said.
“Normally, of course, you just always make strides [forward].”
“At Monza that might be slightly smaller, but from Turn 1 it just didn’t turn anymore.”
“The long run wasn’t really very great either, so we’ll see. Now we are at the back of the pack, we are going to do our best.”
Feature Image Credit: (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)