Verstappen: We improved a lot again, the car is a lot nicer to drive

Despite significant overnight improvements to the RB21, Verstappen said tyre overheating issues limited his pace during the final runs: “Yeah, it was alright. I think compared to yesterday, we improved a lot again. The car is a lot nicer to drive.

“The only problem I had in qualifying was basically the faster I wanted to go, the more problems I had with the tyres just overheating. That was holding me back in Q3 already, run one. And then when I tried to go faster on the second run, Sector 1 was great, and then I just ran out of tyres.

“I just started understeering more, and just tried to keep the lap together, really. But yeah, that's a bit of a shame," added Verstappen, who acknowledged that George Russell’s use of the Medium tyre in Q3 caught his attention, having also felt stronger on that compound in FP3.

“Of course, we came in and I saw George was on a Medium," recalled Verstappen. "Honestly, I also felt better in FP3 on the Medium. But you don’t really have the tyres to qualify on it properly. And of course, for tomorrow, we want to make sure we have the tyres in a good window.”

Asked how much experimentation went into handling the unfamiliar C6 compound, Verstappen said: “Quite a bit because it’s the first time with the C6 as well, so I think no one is really on top of it yet. But it’s clear that probably for a track like this, it’s really on the limit or already a bit over the limit.”

Despite missing pole by a narrow margin, Verstappen expressed optimism about the improvements made by Red Bull since a difficult Friday.

“Yesterday was a tough start, but I think today we definitely put it in a better window. I was a bit happier with how the car was coming alive and also the balance of the car. So that’s a positive.

“It’s just that the tyre compounds this weekend didn’t really help us by being that soft, because we know we overheat our tyres more than we would like. So that is still a focus point for us.”

Looking ahead to Sunday’s Grand Prix, Verstappen admitted race pace remains uncertain after mixed long-run data on Friday: “I don’t know. I’ll just try to do a good start and see where I’m at with the pace, because yesterday wasn’t particularly good in the long run also.

“And then yeah, just see with the new set-up we have on the car. Hopefully it all sticks a bit better on the tarmac and, hopefully, in general a bit more competitive," said Verstappen, who lies P3 in the 2025 F1 drivers' standings ahead of Round 7 on Sunday.

Regarding his teammate Yuki Tsunoda who crashed during Qualifying Q1, verstappen said: "First, of course, I asked if he's OK. And I heard yeah, he's OK. But then I saw the replay — I'm like, “Jesus, is he really OK?” It was a big impact, a lot of damage as well. But the most important is that Yuki is okay. I'll probably see him in a bit."