Max Verstappen’s quest to end the 2024 Formula 1 season on a high almost hit a wall in Abu Dhabi – quite literally – as his Red Bull proved somewhat of a handful in qualifying at Yas Marina.
The reigning world champion endured a weekend-long struggle to find his car’s elusive sweet spot, culminating in a dramatic, heart-stopping slide out of the final corner during his opening flyer in Saturday’s top ten shootout.
Fans gasped as Verstappen wrestled with his car which appeared to be heading straight towards the outside retaining wall.
Fortunately, he managed to keep it on the track, salvaging a provisional pole time of 1m22.045s despite the scare.
"When I was facing towards the wall I was like ‘this could be quite spicy’, but it was not quick,” he said after the session.
Despite his valiant save, Verstappen’s fortunes dipped as McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri unleashed their pace, locking out the front row.
The four-time world champion, unable to improve on his second Q3 run due to persistent balance issues, ultimately settled for fifth – later promoted to fourth thanks to Nico Hulkenberg’s grid penalty.
Reflecting on his car’s erratic behavior, Verstappen admitted the RB20 was a temperamental beast throughout the weekend.
"I think the whole weekend we’ve not found the sweet spot, unfortunately. Maybe we looked okay in Q1 and Q2 but most of the time people were aborting their laps on new tyres and then every time in the beginning of the session people behind me were on scrubbed tyres and not new,” he explained.
"Then in Q3 it was OK but just not how I liked it, the car was never really planted, it was difficult in some corners and it made it very difficult to be consistent.
"It happened in many different corners, because if you try to adjust one or two and then something else happened in another corner.
Even adjustments on the fly during qualifying only seemed to amplify his frustration
“The balance shift that we get throughout the corner at some tracks is a bit more limiting than at others. [For the second run] I adjusted the front wing a bit and everything was made worse."
Verstappen admitted the unpredictable balance likely cost him a potential spot on the front row. duo.
“I should have been on the front row, but it is still not bad,” he remarked optimistically. “If we fix our problems, we will pick up a lot of lap time.
“The balance shift we have makes it very difficult to find a good compromise with the tools that we have in the car, so we need to work on that for next year. If we can fix that then I am confident we can have a quick race car."
While the Dutchman doesn’t expect to challenge McLaren’s pace on Sunday, he has his sights set on Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, who starts third.
“Yes, I still think that McLaren is too quick. I hope that I can race with Ferrari, with Carlos especially, as Charles [Leclerc] starts from the back,” he noted.
He also acknowledged that McLaren’s dominance in Abu Dhabi is unlikely to waver.
“To really fight McLaren, it is unlikely as they’ve been on it the whole weekend again and so comfortably quick with both drivers,” he said.
“This time, it is not like Qatar when we nailed it over a lap and in the race they were still very fast but we hung in there. This time we are a bit further behind.”
As the sun sets on Yas Marina, Verstappen will be hoping for a smoother ride in the season finale, even if victory seems out of reach. The fiery battle behind McLaren promises drama, but for Verstappen, taming his Red Bull remains the first challenge.
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