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Reigning F1 champion Max Verstappen couldn’t keep up with the Ferrari duo during the later stages of the qualification in Hungary. The Dutchman suffered a power unit failure in Q3 as he was on course to push for the pole position. However, once again only to end up in a disappointment. Both the Red Bull cars will be starting right behind one another.
Max Verstappen qualified 10th for the Hungarian Grand Prix. Whereas, his teammate Sergio Perez failed to get into Q3 and is set to start from the 11th position. Addressing the power-related issues, Verstappen talked about how he couldn’t feel any release from the car as he came out of the pitlane.
“I just had no power exiting the pit lane on that final run. The engine was running but there was no release, and that, of course, is painful. I don’t even think about the points so much,” Verstappen added.
“I’m just disappointed that these things happen. There are always weekends when you are not the quickest or whatever and you can lose points. It’s natural, it’s normal. But we actually had a really quick car today and you have to maximize it and be up there. Even if it’s one, two, three, you have to be up there but not P10”, he further added.
Talking about the power unit problem, the only way Red Bull can fix the issue is by changing the engine component. Moreover, the team could also opt for a new $10.5 Million power unit. However, Red Bull's Motorsport Advisor, Helmut Marko is hopeful that the problem wasn’t regarding one of the core power unit parts and hence feels that no penalty is forthcoming.
"With Max's second attempt, we had a problem with the engine. As a result, he did not have full power, but only a reduced engine power at his disposal," Marko confirmed. "We think we know what it's about. There is no penalty attached to it if we change this part."
As both Redbull cars failed to make an impact in the qualifying, Mercedes’ driver George Russell got a surprise pole position, while the Ferraris slotted behind him with Carlos Sainz at the second place while Charles Leclerc took the third. To round of the top five were McLaren’s Lando Norris and Alpine’s Estaban Ocon who finished fourth and fifth respectively.