Max Verstappen claimed pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix ahead of team-mate Sergio Perez on Saturday, but the Red Bull start is concerned about his race pace for Sunday and admitted that he doesn’t feel ‘as comfortable’ behind the wheel as he did before.
After laying down a Q1 marker time faster than his 2023 pole lap, Verstappen then punched in times that were within one-tenth of a second quicker than his team-mate as he topped all three qualifying sessions en route to pole position.
While a brake-related issue triggered a lap-four DNF at the Australian Grand Prix two weeks ago, Verstappen has looked unstoppable when unaffected by mechanical demons this season. However, for the first time in 2024, the Dutchman is concerned about his long-run pace, setting up an intriguing spectacle on Sunday.
“I cannot look inside the Ferrari garage [and say] why that is,” he said when asked why Ferrari weren’t in the hunt for pole. “But, it’s quite obvious that in the long run, they seem quite competitive.
“So, we’ll see tomorrow why that is or if it actually is the case like that. From our side, I have some ideas of what we have to look into to make tomorrow better and that’s what we already changed [on car set-up] after FP3.
“So, hopefully, that will be better for tomorrow. Our race pace is still not too bad, but it’s not how I have been feeling in some of the races this year and last year. As comfortable, let’s say like that. But, hopefully with the changes that we made it will be better.”
If Verstappen does see Ferrari as a realistic challenge come race day, then the onus will be on Carlos Sainz to snatch back-to-back Grand Prix victories. The Spaniard, who won in Australia last time out, qualified in P4 behind Lando Norris, while his team-mate Charles Leclerc was left languishing down in P9.
However, Sainz is unconvinced that Ferrari can mount a true challenge on Sunday. He noted: “It’s just, I think, probably we are a bit lighter. They always run really slow on Fridays, it always looks like we are gonna beat them on Sunday, and then they put 20 seconds on us.
“They are always super quick on Sundays and I think they sandbag a bit on the long runs because they know it’s their strength. Maybe we’re a bit closer, but it’s still… it’s not like we’re gonna find half a second tomorrow in terms of pace.”
