Max Verstappen "upset" by Red Bull tyre call that cost him Turkish GP pole

Turkish Grand Prix

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Verstappen "upset" by Red Bull tyre call that cost him Turkish GP pole

Red Bull driver looked destined for pole before changing tyres

Ian Parkes & Ewan Gale

Saturday 14 November 2020 15:49 Updated: 16:01

Max Verstappen lamented Red Bull's decision to switch to "horrible" intermediate tyres that seemingly cost him pole position for the Turkish Grand Prix.

In a chaotic qualifying session delayed twice by red flags and spiced up by rain on an already slippery Istanbul Park circuit, Verstappen looked to be in a league of his own up until midway through Q3.

But the team reacted to Sergio Perez's times on the intermediate tyres in Q3 and made the switch from the extreme wet compound, with the Dutch driver ultimately finishing second behind the other Racing Point of Lance Stroll.

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"It's the first time I sit here upset," said Verstappen. "I think that says it all. It was all going quite well on the wet tyre.

"In Q1, when I tried to go onto the inters, it was not working at all, even compared to other people around me.

"In Q3 I was not sure to go on inters because I felt really comfortable on the extreme tyres.

"Once I boxed and I went out I had no grip at all compared to the laps I was doing before, so just very disappointing to be second.

"For us, the inters were horrible. The extreme tyres were good, it was very comfortable. [Overall] Not good."

Asked whether he felt he could have clinched pole on the full wets, he replied: "The track was definitely leaning towards intermediates but for me, it just felt so poor that if I'd stayed out on the full wets I could have done the same lap times.

"Clearly something was not working for us today on that tyre."

Similar conditions are possible for the race and although Verstappen conceded his frustration at letting pole slip, the Dutchman suggested the race pace from practice could be crucial.

"At the moment, I am a bit disappointed, of course," he added. "There is still the race where of course, we can do well.

"But yeah, when you are first all the time and you come out second, it is not what you want. Points are tomorrow so I just hope that we will have a good race."

As for a possible win, with Mercedes duo Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas starting sixth and ninth, Verstappen added: "I don't know. We'll find out tomorrow.

"Lewis and Valtteri are a bit further down but I'm also starting now on the inside, so that's not very lovely. We'll find out tomorrow."

Before you go...

Stroll stuns Formula 1 with first pole by a Canadian for 23 years since Jacques Villeneuve