Max Verstappen ‘not that happy’ with 2021 Azerbaijan Qualifying

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen has admitted that he was ‘not that happy with third after an eventful Qualifying session for 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Verstappen endured a difficult Saturday after crashing in FP3 at Turn 15 before recovering to qualify third on the grid following a Qualifying session which contained four red flags.

Third on the grid therefore represents a tough contrast to his form in Friday Practice which left the 23 year-old unimpressed, commenting: “Of course I’m not that happy as I was very confident we could fight for pole here as we have felt good throughout the weekend but qualifying was pretty scrappy with all the red flags…”

Verstappen though feels that the red flag at end of Q3 after crashes for Yuki Tsunoda and Carlos Sainz at Turn Three was ‘unfortunate’  but accepted that these type of incidents are part and parcel of street circuits.

Red Bull though will be favourites for victory given that Ferrari struggled with tyre degradation and Mercedes have lacked pace all weekend with Verstappen confident of a win, saying: “We know we have a good car so it’s still all to play for and we can fight from there.”

Verstappen though is wary after Qualifying that anything can happen around the streets of Baku so is hoping to enjoy ‘a clean start’ before applying the pressure to his rivals where strategy will play a key part on top of tyre degradation.

Verstappen’s teammate, Sergio Perez meanwhile qualified seventh but will start sixth after a penalty for Lando Norris, yet the Mexican feels that Qualifying ‘was a big shame’ given his pace throughout the weekend.

Explaining where he went wrong, Perez commented that he had locked up at Turn Four on his first Q3 flier which cost him time throughout the rest of the lap, before the late red flag on his final run prevented him from improvement.

Perez though is optimistic about his progress this weekend, saying: “I think there are lots of positives to be taken so far this weekend, the pace every single session has been there and we’ve shown good progression so we can be pleased with that.”