Who would have thought! Ironically, Max Verstappen had to end qualifying for the Grand Prix in Saudi Arabia early on Saturday. Due to problems with the drive shaft, the world champion and big favorite for pole position only starts from 15th place.
The race in Jeddah will probably be more exciting than expected! Because with Verstappen, the big favorite has to roll up the field from behind on Sunday. A technical defect stopped the Red Bull in qualifying as early as Q2 – it’s not yet clear exactly what was going on. However, Red Bull confirmed that it was a drive shaft failure. “I have no idea why that happened,” said Verstappen. “Of course it’s a shame. But I think it was just bad luck. Because our car should be fast.” Christian Horner also knows that. The RB team boss: “Of course it’s super frustrating for Max. We know it was the drive shaft, but we need to take a closer look at the car first because there weren’t really any signs that we could have any problems.” Especially because the world champion had dominated qualifying up to that point – and also in each of the set the best time after three training sessions in Jeddah. But then his car suddenly had no more propulsion and only saved it with the last of his strength in the pits. By the way: Verstappen has already made it from 14th to 1st place – it was in Spa in 2022. Now the next challenge is waiting – so the RB can be brought back into shape.
