Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko says reigning world champion driver Max Verstappen pushed too hard in qualifying at the Australian Grand Prix and needs to find some balance during each phase of the racing weekend.
Verstappen endured a horror weekend in Australia, where he was outpaced by both Leclerc and teammate Sergio Perez in qualifying, before a power unit problem brought his race to a premature end.
It was the second DNF in three races for Verstappen, who sits sixth in the drivers’ standings despite his victory in the Saudi Arabian GP.
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Red Bull had hoped the Dutchman would have used his maiden F1 championship last season as a confidence builder that would help him become more comfortable in the qualifying phase.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc has dominated qualifying to snatch pole in the first three grands prix, while Perez outgunned Verstappen in the other.
Verstappen recorded his first pole three years after making his F1 debut in 2016 and has gone on to start at the top of the grid 12 more times.
Yet, Marko believes Verstappen’s single-lap pace driving under the overhauled F1 regulations this year have further impacted his form before race day.
“He goes over the limit, he wants too much,” Marko told formula1news.co.uk
“That didn’t work out (in Melbourne) in the last sector.
“We thought that with the world championship title there would be some calmness from him, but he probably needs another title so that he doesn’t go into qualifying with so much pressure.”
Speaking after the race, Verstappen pointed to a fourth DRS zone not being included at Albert Park as a contributing factor to his poor showing in qualifying.
The DRS zone between turns eight and nine was dropped due to safety concerns by the FIA, but Verstappen questioned the decision.
“I don’t really understand why they took it away,” he said.
“It was much safer than what we do in Jeddah, for example. So it’s a bit of a mystery to me why that happened.”
The Dutch driver, 24, said he struggled to be at one with the car on the technical Albert Park circuit.
“I didn’t really feel good in the car the whole weekend,” he said.
“I think there’s not been one lap when I actually felt confident, so a bit of a struggle.
“Of course, second is still a good result, but just not feeling that great to go to the limit.
“We’ll try to analyse it. For me this weekend so far it’s been all over the place. I think also as a team we want more.”
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