Only sixth in qualifying at Monza, Max Verstappen claims to have been handicapped by a mysterious mechanical problem at the rear of his Red Bull.
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Max Verstappen thought he had finally found a more pleasant Red Bull to drive at Monza. Just a few hours after encouraging third practice sessions, the Dutchman saw his hopes collapse during the qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix.
Only sixth at the end of Q3, Verstappen claims to have felt a mechanical problem at the rear axle of his RB22. More worryingly, the four-time world champion says this phenomenon has already occurred several times randomly.
He is now asking Red Bull to precisely identify the cause.
“Something broke again at the rear”
The frustration is all the greater because Red Bull seemed to have found solutions between Friday and Saturday. Verstappen had finished FP3 in the top 3 and was much more satisfied with the behavior of his car.
“In FP3, we really made very good progress overnight,” explains the Dutchman.
The RB22 finally seemed to be operating within a more favorable window.
“The car was in a much better window and we didn’t really touch it before qualifying.”
Verstappen therefore expected to find similar sensations a few hours later. But from qualifying onwards, the behavior of his car changed.
“Suddenly, I felt that something had broken again at the rear axle. It wasn’t the wing, but something else mechanically, and we need to look at it again.”
A problem already encountered by Red Bull
What worries Verstappen most is the recurring nature of this anomaly. It would not be a completely unprecedented incident on his Red Bull.
“This is not the first time it has happened, but it occurred at random times during the weekend,” he reveals.
This time, the problem appeared at the worst possible moment.
“Unfortunately, it happened during the most important part of the weekend.”
Red Bull will therefore have to analyze the RB22 data to precisely determine what caused this sudden change in its behavior.
A Red Bull that has become very difficult to drive
Verstappen explains that this presumed failure notably affected his car’s ability to absorb bumps and attack curbs.
On a circuit like Monza, where drivers have to aggressively use certain curbs to maximize their speed in the chicanes, the problem can quickly become very penalizing.
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“When you encounter this kind of problem, the car becomes extremely difficult to drive,” continues Verstappen.
“It no longer absorbs bumps and curbs as it should, and that simply makes you lose time on the lap.”
Under these conditions, the Dutchman feels it was impossible to fully exploit the potential shown a few hours earlier.
Verstappen did not see himself on pole anyway
The Red Bull driver does not claim that this problem necessarily cost him pole position. Even after the progress made in FP3, he did not think he had a car fast enough to dominate qualifying.
But he had at least found a predictable and relatively comfortable car, which was already an important progress after a complicated start to the weekend.
“With the way the car was reacting in FP3, I did not think I could fight for pole, but it was, for once, quite comfortable to drive,” he admits.
“It was really nice, but unfortunately, we encountered a new problem.”
Lawson’s absence in Q3 would not have changed anything
Red Bull had also prepared a slipstreaming strategy for Q3. Liam Lawson was supposed to offer his slipstream to Verstappen to allow him to gain precious tenths on the long straights of Monza.
However, the plan fell apart as early as Q2. Lawson failed to qualify for the final part of the session after being notably hindered by Oscar Piastri during his fast lap.
Piastri was also given a three-place penalty for this incident.
Verstappen nevertheless believes that Lawson’s presence in Q3 probably would not have changed much. With a car so difficult to control, the slipstream would not have been enough to compensate for the time lost in corners and on curbs.
Red Bull must now find answers
The priority for Red Bull will therefore be to understand what happened before the start of the Italian Grand Prix.
Verstappen had initially set the sixth fastest time in qualifying, but the penalty given to Piastri finally allows him to gain one position on the grid and start fifth.
This administrative rise does not, however, solve the main problem: Red Bull must ensure that the mechanical anomaly reported by its driver does not recur during the 53 laps of the race.
After finally finding a more docile RB22 in FP3, Verstappen therefore saw his progress disappear at the worst moment. And since the problem had already manifested itself before, the Dutchman is now waiting for answers from Red Bull.
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