Max Verstappen was eliminated in Q2 during qualifying for the Japanese GP. The Dutchman – who has consistently taken pole position in Suzuka for the past four years – will start from eleventh place on Sunday. A painful result for the Red Bull driver, who has been struggling with balance and grip in his RB22 all weekend. In his final fast lap, he failed to set a competitive time.
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During the second qualifying session, Ferrari and Mercedes were once again the dominant forces at Suzuka. Verstappen, who had already struggled to improve his lap times in all free practice sessions, initially recorded the tenth fastest time, almost one second slower than Charles Leclerc, who held P1 at that moment. Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad was ultimately the one who pushed Verstappen down to eleventh place, knocking him out of Q2.
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“I think there is something wrong with the car,” Verstappen sighed over the team radio as his RB22 was driven back into the garage. “In this qualifying, it was completely undriveable. The rear end broke away at high speeds.” Red Bull already indicated on Friday that it does not yet fully understand the car. For now, the team emphasizes that it primarily wants to learn from the race weekend in Japan. For the four-time world champion, who won the last three editions of this Grand Prix, it is nonetheless a painful performance.
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