SINGAPORE — Max Verstappen says his file run of Method One victories will come to an finish at Sunday’s Singapore Grand Prix after he certified eleventh on the grid.
The 2-time world champion is on a run of ten straight victories stretching again to Could’s Miami Grand Prix, however will face his hardest problem of the season when he strains up on the grid in Singapore.
His last beginning place remains to be topic to a stewards’ investigation for impeding automobiles in Q1 and Q2, which means he may drop additional, however with overtaking alternatives restricted across the three-mile Marina Bay road circuit he has already dominated out a victory on Sunday.
“Yeah, you possibly can overlook about that,” he advised reporters in Singapore.
Verstappen stated his most important concern stemmed from the automobile’s behaviour below braking.
“We made a couple of extra modifications [ahead of qualifying] which we thought the setup would permit, the automobile would permit,” he defined. “However then we received into qualifying, the primary massive drawback I had was that I could not brake late and laborious, as a result of I’d backside out and it might unload the entrance tires.
“On a road circuit, that’s one thing that may be very essential, to be assured on the brakes and assault the corners. So I could not try this, and apart from, additionally simply the low velocity corners, the place I believe now we have been struggling the entire weekend, I simply had no rear help.
“So I stored on having mini-slides, or in my last lap, a giant one at Flip 3. When it is like that, there isn’t a lap time.”
Purple Bull has gained each race this yr, however with Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez qualifying thirteenth, that run additionally seems set to finish. The principle power of the automobile this yr has been its race efficiency over its qualifying tempo, besides Verstappen believes his probabilities of preventing by the sphere are slim.
“I imply, normally, usually our automobile is a bit higher on [tyre] degradation, possibly to some folks round us, however I do not suppose that issues rather a lot in Singapore the place it’s totally laborious to cross.
“That you must be one-and-a-half, two, three seconds sooner, which we aren’t. Clearly additionally now with the automobile efficiency imbalance now we have will probably be a really robust, lengthy afternoon.
“I nonetheless want to talk to the stewards, so I may not even be P11 anyway. At this stage, it does not matter.”
No matter Sunday’s outcome, Verstappen is about to safe his third world title within the coming races and he appeared calm in regards to the poor efficiency.
“I knew that there was a day the place you are not profitable anymore,” he added. “It is also, we had a extremely good run anyway up till now.
“I’d all the time take a season the place we’re profitable this a lot and having one actually dangerous weekend over the opposite manner round the place you are not preventing for the championship and also you’re profitable right here.
“I believe it is also vital that we perceive what we did flawed this weekend, as a result of I am assured that subsequent week, we’ll go to Suzuka, and will probably be quick once more.
“It already felt like that additionally on the simulator, that this was a troublesome setup window for the automobile. Then we went to Suzuka, and it simply felt superb once more like the remainder of the races.”