Max Verstappen said his stunning pole rap in qualifying doesn’t mean that Red Bull has found a solution to the F1 car balance problem.
The four-time Formula One champion scored 0.5 seconds between the second and third quarters, setting a new lap record for Suzuka, defeating McLaren Duo’s Rando Norris and Oscar Piastri to pole positions.
The performance won the praises of Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner. He said his outfit “turned the car over” so Verstappen could set “one of the best laps in qualifying.”
Dutchman also praised the work Red Bull put in, putting the tricky RB21 in at least a driveable window.
But he explained that the underlying issues that bother the car remain unresolved, and that the Milton Keynes-based team could take him to a position where he could hide the issue.
The 27-year-old was asked if he still suffered from the “bending” problem he actually complained about.
“But at the same time, corner balance is something that still needs to be addressed.
“There’s a bit of a maskable bit on the low fuel one lap above, but that doesn’t make me completely confident and comfortable laps.
“So the final rap is, ‘Well, I just don’t try to feel uncomfortable. I just send it and see what we get.”
“It’s very rare for such raps to stick, but this time it worked. I know there are some issues I want to solve, but it’s not clear at this point that it will be resolved.”
The now famous balance issue of Red Bull was revealed last year. The team’s competitive destiny declined rapidly after a dominant start of the season.
Sergio Perez and his replacement, Liam Lawson, struggled to gel into the car, but Verstappen has also been openly speaking about handling the 2025 Spec RB21.
Yuki Tsunoda’s promotion to the team this weekend provided another source of information for the team, explaining that the Japanese driver did not warm up his tires after finishing 14th on the grid.
However, Verstappen explained that the Red Bull issue is far beyond tyre warm-up, revealing that the team experimented with a few things before putting the pole’s position in the bag.
“I don’t think it has anything to do with tires, at least for me,” he said. “What’s extremely difficult to manage is simply corner balance.
“But at least I got it with the window I could push at least. Luckily, it was enough in the beginning, but I wouldn’t say, ‘Oh, I’m at first, everything’s perfect now.”
“We still have clear issues that need to be resolved, and that’s what we’re working on. This is a very tough truck for a typical car. It’s really fast. So the small balance restrictions you have can be hung in some places around the lap.
“Some trucks may be a little better for us, but some may even worse. But it was clear that this whole weekend has really experimented with a lot to find that driveable balance. At least we could push a little more.”